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Nathaniel sighed, putting a colored pencil down and picking another one out of the container.
A few moments later, Marc heard him sigh again and put the new pencil down.
“What’s wrong?” Marc questioned, worried about his boyfriend.
“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Nathaniel mumbled as he reached for another color pencil.
Marc frowned at that. “It’s not nothing if it’s bothering you, and as your boyfriend it’s my job to worry about you.” He stated, wrapping an arm around the redhead’s shoulder.
Nathaniel leaned into him. “I can’t find the right shade for this piece and it’s kinda annoying. There’s this set that has it but I can’t afford it right now, which sucks cause that means the finished piece is gonna annoy me or I’m just gonna have to wait and finish it later.
“I’m sorry.” Marc apologized as he pressed a kiss to Nathaniel’s temple. “You wanna share a Couple’s Cone from André’s later?”
“Sure, a distraction from this would be nice.”
~NMN~
A few days later, Marc was heading to the art room after his last class. Excited to see his boyfriend, he quickly made it to the art room and went to open the door.
Someone grabbed Marc before he could touch the handle of the door and he quickly reacted by grabbing his attacker’s arm and twisting it behind their back before pinning them against the wall.
“Marc what the hell!?” They angrily asked, causing Marc to realize it was Alix who had grabbed him.
“Sorry.” Marc quickly apologized as he released her. “But um, what was that about?”
Alix scowled at him. “I needed to talk to you about your plans for Nathaniel’s birthday and since Nathaniel either doesn’t know or won’t tell me anything, I gotta ask the source.”
Marc stared at her. “Uh, one question. When is Nathaniel’s birthday? He’s never told me.”
“I can’t believe him. No wait, actually I can.”
“What’s going on?” Marc asked, confusion clearly written on his face.
Alix huffed. “Nathaniel doesn’t really like his birthday after last year when he got akumatized on it. I had to pin him down and threaten him just to get him to tell me what he wanted this year.”
“He got akumatized on his birthday? Poor Nathaniel, I feel awful.” Marc frowned, his heart aching for his boyfriend.
Alix frowned as well. “Yeah, and none of us even noticed. We all kinda thought he went home after going to the principal’s office and then I was too busy with a project to check up on him. I should’ve checked on him or realized something was wrong, I’m his best friend yet I couldn’t do this one simple thing!”
Alix’s rant was cut off by Marc pulling her into a hug. “It wasn’t your fault Alix, and I’m sure Nathaniel doesn’t blame you.”
Alix allowed Marc to hug her for a few more moments before pulling away. “Alright, back to why I started this conversation. What are you gonna do for Nathaniel’s day tomorrow?”
“It’s tomorrow!?” Marc yelped.
“Yeah, sorry that you got such a short notice. Maybe you two can have some kind of birthday date or something.” Alix suggested, feeling bad for the noiret.
Marc thought for a few moments before his face lit up. “I think I just got an idea.”
~NMN~
The next day, the art club had decorated the art room for Nathaniel’s birthday and had a small party. Marinette had brought in specially made cupcakes for everyone which they enjoyed before getting Nathaniel to open his presents.
“And last but not least, here’s Marc’s.” Ivan stated, carefully handing Nathaniel a beautifully wrapped present.
Nathaniel took it and carefully removed the envelope from under the ribbon. He opened it and read the sweet message inside the card. “Aww, Rainbow this is so cute. I can’t wait till we have a movie night.”
“C’mon, you still got to open the present. Don’t get all mushy yet.” Alix cut in, redirecting Nathaniel’s attention towards the wrapped present.
Nathaniel carefully untied the ribbon before unwrapping the present, taking care not to rip it. He gasped once he saw exactly what it was. “You got me those colored pencils I mentioned a few days ago, I can’t believe you remembered.”
Marc chuckled. “Of course I remembered, you’re my boyfriend and it’s my duty to remember these sort of things.” He leaned down and kissed Nathaniel’s cheek, which quickly turned into a sweet kiss on the lips as Nathaniel turned and kissed him.
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”