An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Nino hangs out with Adrien on a totally platonic outing... Or is it?
Nino chuckled as Adrien turned in a circle to take in all the different tanks. "Can't believe you've never been to an aquarium, dude."
"Wasn't really part of my education," Adrien mumbled, eyes shining. He walked up to a school of fish which decided at that moment to turn deeper into the tank.
Chuckling at his pout, Nino wrapped an arm around Adrien's shoulders. Not noticing the slight blush at the contact. "C'mon, I wanna show you my favorite exhibit!"
Adrien leaned as close to the glass as he could without touching it. "That's a lot of turtles."
The turtle tank was the largest exhibit in the place. A plaque in front of it stating the turtles where there for conservation and study.
Nino beamed, straightening his shoulders a bit. "Well, y'know, once Carapace showed up everyone realized how cool the little dudes are."
"Oh?" Adrien smirked. "Didn't take you as someone who follows trends."
Stumbling partway through trying to lean casually on a wall, Nino righted himself and fixed his cap indignantly. "I'll have you know that I liked turtles before it was cool!"
"Hahahaha," Adrien covered his mouth, poking Nino below the ribs.
"Hey!" Nino tried to keep hold of his righteous stance but, unfortunately, he was very ticklish. "Heheh- Stop that!"
Adrien's grin took on such a catlike quality Nino swore there was a tail curling behind him. "Look," Adrien pointed, "it you."
Turning, Nino spotted a turtle sticking it's head out of a crevice in the artificial reef. A particularly big fish swam by causing it to duck back in.
Nino raised his arm as though putting it on Adrien's shoulders. Only to pull him down and ruffle his perfect hair.
Adrien laughed as he pulled free of Nino's grip. Mischievous smile firmly in place and looking quite pleased with himself.
For some reason Nino felt his heart skip as Adrien's hair settled into his Chat Noir look. He'd seen it before of course, just... never as a civilian.
Glancing over his reflection in the glass, Adrien made to fix his hair. "Father would kill me if he knew I looked like this in public."
Gently, Nino grabbed Adrien's hand. "I-it looks good like that."
Face suddenly red, Adrien smiled softly. "Yeah?"
Clearing his throat, Nino stepped back a bit. "Of course, bro."
Adrien's eyes fell at the loss of contact.
Adrien's lips twitched at Nino's irreverent comment. "So what are some cool fish around here?"
"Dude, they have the coolest fish, you don't even know!"
Nino spent the rest of the day exhausting his admittedly minor knowledge of marine organisms.
"Cuttlefish!" Adrien rushed up to the cephalopod which changed colors as it was stared at. "Y'know they use their color changing in courtship? They're amazing."
"Alright dude, spill." Nino put his hands on his hips in exaggerated fashion.
"You obviously know way more than I do about marine biology. That looked like an octopus."
"What? No! You can tell by the shape of it's... Oh." Adrien rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, surprise?"
"C'mon, man. I know you're smart. You don't have to pretend around me." Nino let his arms fall into a more open stance.
"But I liked hearing you explain it." Adrien tapped his pointer fingers together. "Even if you can't tell the difference between a Green and an Olive Ridley."
"That was one time!" Nino tried not to stare at Adrien's smirk. "Have you really never seen an aquarium before?"
"Nope!" Adrien beamed. "But I've read plenty."
"Course you have," Nino sighed.
"I dunno dude. You usually tell me stuff. Like when you told me about..." Nino glanced from side to side before lowering his voice. "About Chat Noir."
Nino shook his head. "It's dumb, I know. You wanted an excuse to hang. Here I am being all weird because you don't need an excuse. I'm just-"
"This is not how I imagined our first date going," Adrien sighed.
"Yeah, me n- Did you just say date!?"
"Knew we should have gone to the Arc de Triomphe! But Alya was saying how happy you were about the turtle exhibit and I didn't want to come off as a know-it-all, especially about your animal. And now I've made it weird."
Nino blinked as he processed all that. Reaching out to grab one of Adrien's hands again as his best friend tried to wrap his arms around himself. "Adrien you are the weirdest person I know."
"I love that about you, bro."
Head snapping up Adrien's forest green eyes stared directly into Nino's own. A rose tint highlighting his growing grin. "Really?"
"Yeah, man! You know anyone else who can make a leather catsuit look cool?"
The blush bloomed as Adrien's grin spread ear to ear. "Can I kiss you?"
Eyes widening, Nino swallowed. "S-sure!"
The word was barely out of his mouth before Adrien was pulling him close. His lips were so soft for someone with such a strong grip.
Nino's scalp was buzzing as he tried to refocus his eyes. Damn, was Adrien always this hot?
"You have beautiful eyes," Adrien blurted.
"Sorry, it's just been stuck in my head for so long."
Nino hmmm-ed at how close Adrien still was. "You have beautiful eyes too."
Said eyes gazed at him with such admiration that Nino was more self conscious of staring into each other than he was of the kiss. Clearing his throat, Nino took his hands off Adrien's back. When did those get there?
Nino kept his hand intertwined with Adrien's however.
"So... Does that mean you're okay with dating me?" Adrien's hand was rubbing his head again and his smile was a tad nervous.
Nino squeezed his hand and leaned against his shoulder. "Bro, I'd love to date you."
"Never had a boyfriend before," Nino mussed, adjusting his cap.
"I'm sure it's not that different from having a girlfriend."
"True, we just need ta- Wait, when did you have a girlfriend?"
"Oh, uh, y'know how I spent a bunch of time with Kagami?"
"No! My bro's first girlfriend and he kept it a secret from his best friend? I'm hurt."
"Good thing you're there for my first boyfriend then isn't it?"
"Yeah? Tell me about this boy. He cute?"
"Ha! The cutest. And he's got impeccable taste in music."
"Y'know, I think I'd like this guy. When can I meet him?"
"I don't have anything scheduled Saturday."
"Excellent," Nino grinned. "Pick you up at nine?"
Adrien snorted. "I'm picking you up," he guided Nino's hand to the ring on his finger. "Literally."
Nino gazed fondly at his best friend. "Can't wait..."