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It was a lovely night, really. Just dark enough, just warm enough, just noisy enough. With the city lights below, the Eiffel tower was the perfect place for the end of the school year. There was a mild wind blowing, sure, but it wasn’t particularly chilly – it was just a way to remember that nature still existed, even here between the giant metal lattices.
Marc snaked his arms along Nathaniel’s, cupping his hands around his elbows. “Hey… do you think you’re ready now?” he murmured, only so loud as he needed to be for Nathaniel to hear him over the party music from the distant dance floor
“Yes,” said Nathaniel. “I’m ready.”
They’d planned to save their first kiss for today: it was their last time together in a school setting, because Nathaniel was moving on to lycée in the fall. It was also a big party where they’d have time to themselves, and places to hide away. Maybe it was a little silly to save a kiss like this – Marc never saw it as a particularly monumental step for them, given how much time they already spent together. But going slow felt good, in a way. Like they were spacing out their snacks so that there’d always be something tasty to look forward to.
Their next milestone would be a sleepover. They were saving that for mid-August. And then… well, they’d have to figure out the next step later. Maybe that could be coming up with pet names – Marc had a few in mind already. Nelly. Nonny. Tilly.
“Okay, so…” Marc tried to take a step forward, but quickly changed his mind. “Um. Have you kissed anyone before?”
Nathaniel blushed, eyes wide. “No! I – no! Have you?”
“Nope.” Marc grinned sheepishly, clutched a little tighter onto Nathaniel’s elbows. “I guess we’re going to have to figure out how this works together, then. Do we… lean in together, do you think?”
“… Maybe?”
“Should we hold our hands differently? I could hold around your waist, if you want.”
“Uh – that’s fine, I guess…”
“Maybe we should go like a slow dance, you could have your arms over my shoulders. Or would that be too far? It’s just a first kiss day today, we can do actual smooches later. What do you think?”
Nathaniel’s demure anxiousness was obvious. Marc knew he was anxious too – how could he not be, with Nathaniel in front of him? – but it manifested differently, like his words shot out faster. A lot of him felt like it was tensed to shoot out, actually. He was full of manic energy.
“You know what?” he said, smiling like the gentle, waiting headlights to Nathaniel’s fearful deer. “I think we should count down from three, and then we both lean in. And we can hold hands so we’re not too close.”
The wonderful little red-haired deer smiled in relief. “Okay! That sounds good.”
“Okay. One, tw-”
Something pushed Marc in the back, sending him forward into Nathaniel’s chest. “Hey!” yelled Nathaniel. “Watch out!”
The person that had pushed him was a blond stranger, round about their age, who didn’t even seem to have noticed them – he just strode on past at speed, his face averted.
“Weird,” said Nathaniel. “I thought the only people up here were our two classes? He doesn’t look like anyone I recognise.”
“Yeah, I don’t recognise him either… I thought it was Adrien for a second, but…” No, of course not. He was in London – and besides, the boy carried himself very differently from Adrien. Maybe he was Mylène’s cousin or something.
“Oh well,” said Marc, grabbing hold of Nathaniel’s hands again. “Let’s try that again. Ready?” Nathaniel nodded. “Okay. One, two, th-”
“Oh! Sorry!”
That was Marinette’s voice. They turned to face her – she was awkwardly carrying a lot of stuff in her arms, flowers and gifts she’d been given earlier, and seemed to be in a hurry.
“Hey,” said Marc, though he tried to make his gaze as meaningful as he possibly could. And the meaning was something like, ‘We’re having a moment here, do you mind?’
“Hi, um… did you see Adrien? I’m looking for him,” she said.
Nathaniel shook his head. “He’s in London, Marinette. Remember?”
“No, I saw him – sorry! I’ve got to go.” She dashed forward, cutting between them, dropping a few petals from the flowers she was holding.
“Guess she’s pretty upset,” said Nathaniel.
“Honestly, now he’s left the country, I think she’d be better off finding someone else,” joked Marc through gritted teeth. He was maybe a little bitter because this was supposed to be their first kiss, but people kept interrupting. They were supposed to have a nice little moment, just the two of them.
Nathaniel smiled, but didn’t laugh. “Let’s focus on us now, okay?” he said, taking Marc’s hands. “Count us down again.”
“Of course. You’re right.” Marc sighed, looked at Nathaniel again. This gorgeous, sweet little boy, Marc’s luckiest break of his whole life so far. “Okay – one, –”
“Oh! Marc!”
That voice was Zoé’s. She’d just crossed around the girder, not quite coming between them in a physical sense but being dangerously close to that in a metaphorical sense. Her eyes drifted down to their hands, then back up to their faces for a moment before they shot away back where she came from. “I’m sorry! I was looking for – doesn’t matter. I’ll leave.”
She turned around to go back where she came from – but Marc got a brainwave. “Hey, Zoé – would you mind standing watch for us? We’d like a little privacy for a bit. Just… stand there and tell people not to come around and interrupt us, okay?”
“Er – yes, of course!” She gave them the limp wrist and a knowing smile; they returned the gesture, and she went back around the corner.
Marc sighed again. “I guess it’s harder to have a first kiss than I thought.”
“And we haven’t even started yet…” said Nathaniel. Marc looked into his eyes. Simba – that was another one of the nicknames Marc had thought up for him, but he had no idea how Nathaniel would like it. His red hair always did look a bit like a lion’s mane to Marc, though, and Marc could be… some dark-maned lion boy, who had hoped to be seen by Simba, but then Simba got angry with him because of a misunderstanding, and then… It was stupid, but it was a fun stupid.
They had so many things left to do. So they’d best get on with the one they had planned for today, or they would have to reschedule.
“Okay. Let’s try again?” Nathaniel nodded; his eyes glittered in the light. “I’m counting us down again. One, two, thr-”
“Guys?” said Zoé. She’d stuck her head around the girder. “I’m really, really sorry, but…”
Marc could feel himself getting older. “Zoé, we asked for no interruptions.”
“There’s an akuma,” said Zoé. “You might wanna find a place to hide for a bit.”
They both groaned. “Really? Now, of all times?” said Nathaniel. Today’s kiss was clearly doomed.
Except – no, it wasn’t. These interruptions weren’t going to take their best chance away from them. Marc was going to get his Simba. He grabbed Nathaniel by the shoulders, turned him around so they were face to face, looked him square in the eyes.
“I’m not counting down this time,” he said.
Nathaniel tasted of raspberries and cologne, and his breath was a comfortable evening against Marc’s skin. The combination wasn’t something Marc had ever thought of as pleasant before – but now he’d tried it, he wanted it again. And again. And again.
He got his wish after the akuma was defeated. And again, and again, throughout the summer.