Marcnath One-Shots

First Da(t/r)e

If Nathaniel was being perfectly honest with himself, he was really starting to regret taking Alix's back when it came to her and Kim's petty challenges. Usually they were actually pretty fun if not questionable, but this time, the guilt was ebbing away at him more than support for his best friend.

"I need you to take Marc out on a date," Alix had said, rather a lot more bluntly than Nathaniel would have liked to hear it. True, he had been growing closer to the writer over the last few weeks after the Reverser incident, but he was still far from considering him as a potential candidate for something else .

"Why?" he had asked in response, taken completely off-guard by the unusual request.

Alix had rolled her eyes to that.

"I need you to take Marc Anciel out on a date. I accidentally let Kim know I was aro and now he won't believe I'm capable of supporting people who feel romantic attraction so I'm going to wingwoman you two to prove I can be a great love endorser without feeling it myself. You get me?"

Nathaniel had merely gaped at her in surprise and shock, which she had somehow interpreted as a "yes" and then something happened and something else happened and now he and Marc were hand-in-hand, walking aimlessly around the city trying to find a suitable place for their date.Andre the ice cream guy would have been the obvious choice, until they unpleasantly discovered his heteronormative outlook towards the couples who came to get ice cream and tried to set Nathaniel up with Alix, which was most definitely not their intended goal in mind.

"Just go to the freaking zoo!" Alix's voice hissed through the earpiece in the redhead's ear.

Nathaniel glanced at Marc, who seemed too overjoyed to probably care exactly where they went, and sighed.

"Why don't we go to the zoo?" he asked Marc innocently.

Marc smiled at him, flushing, and nodded in subtle eagerness. Nathaniel felt the knot in his stomach tighten.

"The zoo it is, then," he decided softly, pressing on the earpiece to convey the message to Alix.

Marc was practically bouncing as they made their way to the zoo, but Nathaniel was internally repeating to himself as if it would assure him his sins were forgiven. It'll all work out, Alix'll win her dare and we can leave this all behind us...Sure, it'll probably crush Marc when he finds out but he'll forgive me, won't he? Oh no, he's going to be so crushed when he finds out...

Nathaniel was so busy internally panicking that he didn't realize they'd already arrived at the zoo and how troubled his expression was until Marc gently tapped him and asked him if he was okay. Nathaniel jerked back to reality and immediately changed his expression to one of ease.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he waved off.

Marc didn't look 100% convinced.

"Are...you...sure?" he asked doubtfully.

Nathaniel's conscience took another opportunity to yell in his brain again. He broke his gaze away and looked at the ground awkwardly, glancing at Alix hidden in the bushes.

"I've never, um, been on a successful date before..." he mumbled softly. Marc looked at him, worried. The innocent concern in his eyes, Nathaniel wanted to expose himself right then and there. Instead he shook his head to clear away the intrusive thoughts and looked back at Marc, resolve setting in. "But that doesn't mean this can't be a great date! I'm sure this time will be much better than the last," he smiled reassuringly, and Marc blushed. Nathaniel felt his own cheeks heating up slightly and quickly looked away.

"So, where do you want to go, now?" Marc asked.

Nathaniel shrugged.

"What about the Miraculous section? I heard they just got a peacock recently," Marc suggested, and so they went.

***

"That was really convincing, wow, Nath, I never knew you had it in you!" Alix told him later when they were back in the Louvre, alone.

"It wasn't an act, Alix," he told her softly, looking out the window with a less-than-subtle grin on his face.

"Wait, so you were actually taking him out on an honest date?!" she asked in surprise.

"Well, not at first..." Nathaniel admitted. "But it was actually really nice and he's really sweet and we had a good time and we're dating now so I think it went well enough," Nathaniel shrugged. "What, why are you looking at me like that?"

Alix didn't answer, instead turning around and waving at the entrance to this exhibit. Nathaniel stared in confusion, until twelve faces jumped out in his line of vision, making him jump out of his own seat.

"CONGRATULATIONS YOU DENSE IDIOT!!!" Kim's voice rang out above the rest, and they all exploded into cheers.

"What's going on?" Nathaniel asked, blinking dumbly.

"The dare was never for me," Alix confessed. "We were trying to get you and Marc together the entire time."

Nathaniel gaped at her for a good minute. He gaped at all of them for another good minute.

"You little sneak!" he hissed at her, eyes flashing threateningly, but his smile gave him away.

Alix raised her hands in self-defense for half a second before she took off speeding away.

"Oh no, you don't!" Nathaniel hollered at her, jumping up and sprinting after her.

***

In spite of Nathaniel denying it multiple times later on, Alix claimed all credit for getting what became known as the iconic "Creative Duo" together, while Marinette would tell anyone who didn't bother asking Alix that it was really the baker's daughter who got them together in the first place.

But none of it really made a difference to the Creative Duo themselves, who quickly established their comic book counterparts in a relationship as well. Nathaniel was no longer cursed with bad dates and unrequited crushes, and Marc was finally together with the artist of his dreams.

Basically, they made lots more comic books and all lived happily ever after, which is really all that matters, isn't it?