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“What’s with the pigtails?”
Nino always had a lot of questions in any given situation, but true to form, he always managed to say the lowest priority one first.
When Chris came home soaked on a completely sunny day, he asked what happened to Chris’s hat. When Marinette tripped down the stairs, he questioned if her parents were out of town. When the guidance counsellor asked if he had any questions, he asked if the plant in the room had been watered.
And when a brand new pink superheroine had jumped into Alya’s room, he had asked her why she had pigtails.
The neon pink hero, who was probably Alya if he was honest with himself, was staring back at him with wide eyes, and he couldn’t help but get the feeling that Probably-Alya hadn’t expected him to be in her room before she leapt in.
“Uhhh, What are you doing here?”
Nino and Alya typically spent a lot of time in each other's rooms, so it wasn’t unusual for him to be here, even if he was previously alone. Nino was half sure the Cesaire household was 5 seconds away from giving him a key to the place, given how much time he spent there.
“Nora let me in; I was waiting for Alya so we could go on a date, and she noticed me outside the front door looking like, and I quote, a lost puppy” Nino said, feeling slightly belittled by that comment.
“Sure, that makes sense…” Maybe-Alya said, still panic-stricken.
She shook her head and adopted a shaky hero pose, before continuing.
“N-Not to fear citizen! I was just…here…to…meet Alya! Yes! I needed to ask her something, regarding the Ladyblog! Because I’m Aramanth, whom you don’t know, of course! But if Alya’s not here I might as well leave, like, right now.” she said, forced and unconfident, before turning on the spot to leave.
Nino sighed, Alya could be a great liar, but if she didn’t have time to prepare, she often was left floundering.
“Alya, I can clearly tell that’s you.”
Almost-Definitely-Alya groaned in frustration.
“Ughhh. Guess the heroic exploits of Amaranth also came with an expiration date too. Daizzi, relax!”
Pink energy swirled and receded around Alya, until a kwamii came out of her anklet.
Alya huffed, and fell down on the bed, next to Nino.
“Why does my boyfriend have to be so caring and wonderful as to wait for me, in my apartment, for our movie date.” Alya said, sticking out her tongue in a faux grumpy manner.
Nino rolled his eyes, and fell down beside Alya, pulling her closer.
“And why does my girlfriend have to be so heroic and daring and perfect as to take on another miraculous?” he retorted, as Alya rested her head on his shoulder.
“Well, you know why. Ladybug needed me, and Pigella wasn’t available. I needed to step up, right? All that is necessary for the triumph of evil-
“-is that good people do nothing. Yes, I know. Just…”
Nino paused and detangled himself from her.
He and Alya shared everything, that was a point of pride between them, but it was at times like this that Nino realised that he was just skimming the surface of who she was. How do you understand someone who is willing to try and understand the entire universe?
“Do you ever think that maybe, this is putting us in too much danger? Other teenagers don’t exactly fight against things like this most days.”
Alya frowned as she failed to meet his eyes.
There was a lot she knew that he didn’t. She knew who Ladybug was. She knew more about the miraculous than she thought she ever could. She knew what it was like to keep such important secrets from everyone. She spent her afternoons and nights on rooftops, making up fun little games with herself like, ‘If I keep Ladybug in my scope at all times, she won’t die’.
However, there was a lot they both knew. They both knew the struggle of inventing excuses for her absences from family and friends. They knew how hard it was splitting up during an akuma fight, unsure if you’ll ever see each other again. They knew what it was like to try and minimise overwhelming thoughts like ‘Will I be at my best friend's funeral tomorrow?’
Alya sighed, and then spoke.
“Maybe, but, Ladybug and Rena and Aramanth and…I can’t just give this up. She needs me, and I made a promise. This cause is more important than just me. I understand if you’re worried about me, But what other moves can we take?”
Nino never had a good response to questions like that. He was the friend who you came to when you wanted to escape from reality, when enjoyment and distraction were your top priorities, when the world was collapsing down around you and you needed someone to ride it out with. He was decidedly not the solutions friend, so when faced with questions and options, he never quite understood what people wanted from him.
It was probably why he was so bad at questions himself.