Miraculous Emerald: Back for Vengeance

Chapter 8: A Moment together

Daphne POV

After school, Luka and Marinette went on their date while I went to my archery club to practice my shots, getting 5 bullseyes with ease. Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind me and looked to see Nico wearing a dark blue hoodie with a grey Demin vest, black fingerless gloves, dark green jeans and black and white sneakers.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey. What's up?" I asked, pulling the arrows from the target stand.

"Just wanted to see what the Robin Hood Club is about. And I gotta say, I'm liking what I see." He said.

"Did you come here just to admire the building?" I asked in a mocking angry tone.

"I just thought I could try out archery. If you're ok with it." He said.

"Alright then. Take off your jacket and put on the wrist guard." I said as I handed him a wrist guard.

"What for?" Nico asked as he took off his jacket.

"Unless you want the bow string to cut your wrist, be my guest." I said with a shrug.

"Alright, alright. I'll put it on." He sighed as he fitted the wrist guard on his forearm.

I handed him a bow and a quiver of arrows and helped him notch the arrow inside the bow, guided his stance and helped him hold the bow.

"Take a deep breath. Relax." I said.

"Sure. Relax." He said as his cheek were burning red.

"You ok?" I asked as I saw his face.

"Yeah. It's a bit stuffy in here." He said, averting his eyes.

I watched as he fired the arrow and smiled when it hit the red section. Nico sighed in content and smirked.

"Not bad for your first attempt." I said as I patted his shoulder.

"Thanks." Nico said.

I picked up my bow and arrows and stood next to him.

"How about we make things interesting? First to 300 wins." I said as I turned on the scoring board.

"Game on." Nico said with a smirk.

After the game

Nico and I sat on the bench, admiring the scoring board. I smirked as I saw I'm 40 points ahead of Nico, much to the latter's dismay.

"No fair. You had more experience." He whined.

"But, you did well though. You should be proud of yourself." I said, nudging him in the shoulder.

"Yeah, you're right. I guess." He sighed.

We sat in silence for a moment until Nico asked me.

"You always loved archery?" 

I nodded and pulled out a picture of her mother around her age, She had hazel hair like Daphne, but her eyes were navy blue instead of grey. 

"A trait my mother gave to me. She was a junior champion around my age back in high school. Brought home the gold many times. Growing up, I wanted to be like her." I said.

"What happened? Why did she ditch you?" Nico asked.

"After my father died from lung cancer, my auntie, his older sister, blamed her for it. She never knew about his smoking addiction. Especially after he lost his job at Simmons Industries when he allowed a group of police officers to snoop around his office. This was around my 6th birthday. Ultimately, she disappeared from our lives. Never came to the funeral or anything. I never knew why." I said, wiping away the tears from my eyes.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Nico said.

"No, it's fine. I mean I only told you some of the details and that was it. I wasn't completely truthful to you. And I wanted to get it out of my chest. Part of me hated her for leaving. But, part of me misses her. Not sure about my auntie though." I said, my voice cracking.    

Nico pulled me into a hug. I rested my chin on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"I'm sorry for being such a cry baby." I said.

"It's ok to cry, y'know. Sometimes, you're just tired of being of bottling up your emotions and just want to let it out." He said, rubbing my back in a slow circular motion. I smiled  as it gives me comfort.

"Can you hold onto me a bit longer?" I asked.

"Sure. As long as you want me too." Nico said.

I sighed as nuzzled in the crook of his shoulder, taking in his warmth and scent.

"You feel so warm and you smell really nice." I mumbled.

"I. Er-." Nico stammered.

I pulled away and blushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you or anything." I stammered.

"N-no. It's fine, really. I appreciate the complement. Truly. It's just that I never had any experience with girls." Nico said in a shy tone.

"Oh. I see." I said, fumbling my hands.

Nico's phone went off, startling both of us. He checked and frowned.

"Looks like Tank and Punchline are up to no good as usual. I'm gonna go and check it out." He said.

"Want some company?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm going to the changing room to get dressed." He said as he picked up his duffle bag.

"Same here." I said and made my way to the girl's room. 

As I got changed, I hugged myself and imagined Nico hugging me. As I came too, I blushed and shook my head.

Geez. Get your head together, Idiot. Nico was being nice. I thought and got changed.

As I left the changing room, I saw Nico adjusting his mask, bag and coat. 

"Let's go." He said.

"Alright." I replied.