Chapter Text
Today, Nath was waiting for Alix at the coffee shop, practicing sketching the customers in his notebook. In his bag, he carried a discreet, black-covered notebook, the one he used for private projects and designs he preferred to keep out of his parents' reach.
Drawing at the café was kind of relaxing, it was full of strangers and it was quite interesting to figure out their life's while sketching them so he could practice anatomy and different expressions.
This was not his first time doing this, but lately, the pages were full of pictures of a certain blue-haired guy and Nath didn't even seem to be conscious about this.
"Hey what you doing?"
Alix entered the shop wearing a black cap backwards. Nath rolled his eyes.
"Nothing, just doing some warm up"
"Ohh, can I see them please?" She asked lifting her head towards the sketchbook.
"Yeah, whatever, I'm gonna replace the coffee bags from yesterday while you are looking that"
She excitedly picked it up and began turning page at after page. By the end, a wide smile had spread across the girl's face.
"Should I ask why the last few pages are filled with just one person?"
The redhead peered into the notebook, curious.
"I don't know what you mean."
When he saw the pages, he was stunned to find them filled with sketches of Marc's face.
"Oh, not at all. Tell me, have you noticed that your blue markers are more worn than usual?"
"I-I..."
"And this lightning bolt? I didn't know you were interested in makeup designs now too."
Damn, he'd unconsciously been drawing the guy from the other day even when he wasn't at the cafe. I mean, don't blame him, Marc had great style, and it was fun to draw his face and different makeup designs. Does he always wear the same one, or does he change it? Does it have some special meaning?
"I mean, he's an attractive face, it's normal that I drew him..." he said, unconvinced that his excuse would convince his friend.
Alix looked at him skeptically. He didn't have time to complain because at that moment he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of a jacket that stood out in the crowd and heard the clanking of chains hanging from the jeans of the boy who had just entered.
"Well, it seems your reference has just arrived. Time to serve him, Romeo."
Alix went to the back, laughing.
"Alix! You can't leave me here alone!" Nathaniel complained.
"Hey!"
Marc's voice stopped him in his tracks, and he turned to take his order.
"H-hello, what can I get you today?"
"An Americano, please."
"Long night?" he asked, turning to note the order.
"I had to stay up late to finish a chapter of the book."
"You're writing a novel?!"
"Ah, um, yes, but it's not very far along yet."
"Wow, that's incredible. I'll have to read it someday." He wrote the name on the cup and went to make it.
"Don't you need a name for that?"
"Marc, right? I haven't forgotten that quickly."
"Yeah, thanks, Nath." The writer smiled and went back to his usual table.
Nathaniel stood there, blushing at the smile. He shook his head and quickly made the coffee. There weren't many customers, so they weren't busy today. He went to call out the name of the order, but felt a hand cover his mouth, interrupting him.
"Alix! What the hell?"
"No way. You're going to the table and hand it to him."
"What? Why?"
Alix raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously, Nath? It's obvious you like him! Be a man and give the guy his coffee at the table."
"WHAT? Alix, you're out of your mind!" Nathaniel shouted. "I've literally spoken to him three times. How do you expect me to fall in love with someone I don't even know?"
"Okay, fine, maybe 'love' is a bit of a strong word, but you must like him if you spend so much time drawing him, and don't even think about denying it," the pink-haired girl said, raising her finger. "We know each other, Nath. For God's sake, you never draw people this much unless you find them attractive."
"Okay, yeah, maybe he's kind of cute, so what? It's not like we're about to start some fairytale romance."
"Dude, take my word for it, at worst you'll have a new friend. Besides, he likes to write, and you need a writer for that comic you wanted to write."
"I'm not going to ask some kid I barely know if he wants to make a comic with me. Besides, you know perfectly well that if I start that and my mom finds out, she'll kick me out."
"Ugh, I can't stand your mom, I swear." She cursed. "But he's not just 'some kid'"
"What are you talking about?"
"The other day I found out that he is Marinette's cousin, you know? The one that came at the campus last year."
"You're kidding right?" Nathaniel said nervously. "He is Marinette's cousin!?"The one who published his first book at the age of sixteen? And you want me to ask him to collab with me? Yeah, not happening."
"Oh come on man, your comic is absolutely rad! He will help you for sure."
"I don't think so, anyway I'm gonna give him his coffee, just… stay here."
"Yes! You go dude." Alix cheered.
Marc was concentrated in his work. He didn't like how the last pages were turning out and that was giving him a headache. He usually went to that café because it was close to his house. He found the background noise pleasant, much more so than having his parents hovering over him, asking about his work every two minutes. Don't get him wrong, Marc loved his parents, but sometimes they could be a little… overwhelming.
Today he was working on the fifth chapter of his novel. He'd started the project for a young writers' contest his professor had encouraged him to enter. He wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the subject, but if he won, he'd get the recognition he needed to start writing his own books.
To tell the truth, the atmosphere wasn't the only reason he frequented that café. A few years ago, Marinette had told him about a boy in her class. Nathaniel had started uploading comics online when he was fifteen; his cousin never stopped talking about the talented boy in their class who kept them on the edge of their seats with his comics. When he looked him up online, he was able to confirm that information. Even without dialogue, this boy's drawings conveyed a tremendous feeling and passion that Marc found admirable at his young age. At that moment, at fourteen years old, Marc began a notebook dedicated exclusively to narrating the boy's comics.
A few months ago, while Marc was walking through the campus he entered the café, and was in shock to see his favourite artist working there. He entered but didn't know what to say. The red-haired seem pretty tired and was so out of his zone he ended ordering a mocha which ended up being a regular coffee. He didn't really mind, he was to focused on thinking in a way to compliment the guy, but he just keep returning to the shop, ordering whatever he saw and saying nothing at all.
This morning, once again, he couldn't bring himself to talk to Nathaniel, but to his surprise, the guy recognized him from the awkward encounter they had the other day.
Embarrassed, and a little annoyed with his work, he didn't notice when someone tapped him on the back, and he jumped, almost falling out of his chair.
"Oh my god, sorry."
Turning around, he found Nathaniel standing right in front of him. The boy looked flushed and was holding a coffee in his right hand, while with his left he grabbed Marc's shoulder to steady him after his arrival.
"Don't worry," Marc quickly replied. "My fault, I was so engrossed in the document and didn't even notice you approaching."
"Maybe it would have been a good idea to warn you before suddenly appearing at your table," the redhead replied, smiling playfully.
Marc looked at him, noticing his face getting hot, unable to tear his gaze away from the boy in front of him.
"Anyway, I just came to drop off your coffee," He continued, looking slightly away and scratching the back of his neck. "soo, here you go?"
"Oh" Marc looked at his hand. "Oh! Thank you, I thought that you would call me like…, the last five times I ordered here?" There were really a lot more but Nathaniel didn't have to know that.
""Ah, um, I mean, the cafe was pretty lonely and I thought that…" Nathaniel's face turned as red as a ruby, he started to ramble, looking at the floor, his bangs covering his face even more and leaving Marc completely bewildered by the boy's sudden embarrassment.
"Oh my god how cute" He thought to himself, he hurried to grab his drink.
"Fuck it's hot" He quickly put it down the table, blowing on his hands and waving them.
When he looked up, he saw the redhead chuckling softly. The sound of his laughter was one he thought he'd never tire of; the boy was like a magnet, drawing him in and compelling him to get to know him better.
Nathaniel noticed Marc's gaze when he stopped fidgeting with his hands. He stifled his laughter with a cough and tried to change the subject to shift the focus away from their second embarrassing encounter.
"How's your novel coming along?" he asked, gesturing to the laptop.
"I hate it."
Nathaniel blinked.
"Oh."
Marc stared at the screen for a few seconds before sighing dramatically and letting his forehead fall against the table.
"I really, really hate it."
Nathaniel bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
"That's... reassuring."
"Sorry."
"No, no. Go ahead. I want to hear why you hate it."
"It's boring."
"That's not very specific."
"The characters are boring. The plot is boring. The dialogue is boring. The protagonist is boring." He paused. "I'm boring."
Nathaniel raised an eyebrow.
"Wow. You really went for the dramatic approach."
Marc groaned.
"I knew I shouldn't have said anything."
"No, wait." Nathaniel pulled out the chair opposite him. "You asked for my opinion?"
"I didn't."
"Too late."
He sat down.
Marc stared at him.
Nathaniel stared back.
Neither seemed entirely sure what they were doing.
"You're sitting down," Marc finally pointed out.
"Apparently."
"At my table."
"It seems so."
"To talk about my terrible novel."
"I guess so."
Marc's lips twitched.
"You're weird."
Nathaniel smiled.
"That's rich coming from the guy wearing fingerless gloves to type." He said pointing out the writer's piece of clothe.
Marc immediately looked down at his hands.
"These are comfortable."
"They look incredibly uncomfortable."
"They're not."
"I'll have to believe you"
They both stared at the document when Nathaniel decided to break the silence.
"Soo, can I read it maybe?"
"You want to read my chapter!?" Marc seemed shocked.
"I mean, I don't know how to help if I don't even know what the story is about"
"I- ehm, yeah that makes sense."
Marc turned the laptop to Nathaniel so the guy could check out his writing.
After a moment where Marc couldn't stop biting his nails, the red-haired put up his head and looked directly to Marc.
"You're working on chapter five, right?"
Marc nodded.
"The professor says the pacing is too slow."
"And do you agree?"
"Not really." He said looking down the floor.
"Then why change it?"
Marc hesitated.
"Because she's the professor."
Nathaniel laughed.
"Fair point."
"I've rewritten this chapter three times."
"Maybe that's the problem."
Marc frowned.
"What?"
"You're trying too hard."
The writer stared at him.
Nathaniel pointed at the screen.
"If you don't like what you're writing, maybe you should stop trying to make it what you think your professor wants."
Marc leaned back.
"You're an artist. Isn't that kind of the same thing?"
"Not really."
"How so?"
"Because when I draw something for myself, I know what I want it to look like." Nathaniel shrugged. "When I draw something for other people, I start worrying about whether they'll like it."
He paused.
"And then it stops being mine."
Marc became quiet.
"I'm sorry i didn't mean to make it so depressive—"
"No you are right, I think… I think I've neglected myself more than I thought, and what I write no longer reflects who I am. "
Marc lifted his head and looked at Nathaniel with a sad smile. The boy looked away, blushing, and started playing with the hem of his apron.
"Can I ask you a question?" Marc leaned.
"Y-yeah of course."