You mean that fic you started in 2017 and update once every few years??? Yeah that one. I'm so sorry, lol If you need to re-read heres all the chapters. Royal Guard!Nino and Princess! Alya
There was never a more agonizing 35-40ish seconds of waiting in all his life. The amount of time from Nino confirming his fears of Alya’s disappearance and the replacement guard for the night to arrive was seemingly infinite, and certainly enough time for him to imagine the absolute worst.
The likelihood of her being in any kind of danger yet from anything other than him was practically non-existent. She was in an incredibly well guarded castle with guards of all kinds on nearly every exit and any man in the castle who could gain something from harming her would have no reason to do it yet. A ransom was better sat on for a while, but in a way this fear was ridiculous. She was in her own home, but the reason behind her being restricted in her movements at all was because of the vast number of visitors the castle was currently entertaining. Every stuffy, important council member came with an entourage of their own guard, and the individual intentions and loyalties of these men could not possibly be fully screened. So as an added precaution against threats the King commanded the guard to oversee the restricted activities of his daughters, specifically Nino. He had specifically commanded Nino to oversee this exact task, and yet.
Here he was.
Nino left in what was surely a suspicious hurry, but for the first time the complete disrespect of the senior guards actually worked in his favor. The very instant the night guard replacements started to crest the final step, Nino was in motion. His gate was one fraction shy of far too fast as he desperately scanned the area and tried to determine the most likely path for a stubborn, bull-headed princess to flee, and he considered his options as they occurred to him.
He could feasibly A) alert everyone of her disappearance to best ensure her return and basically hand his job over as he did so.
B) Tell no one and fail to find her, and for his failure basically hand his job over anyways,
Or C) try and make it look like he wasn’t there at all when she went missing and hope no one clarifies the timeline.
Now C wasn’t genuinely an option, he knew he’d have to take responsibility no matter what nor would he want to sacrifice the other guards to save his own skin, regardless of their treatment of him. They may be sordid old men but he was not… even if this would cost him everything, he would do what was honorable.
But he’d much prefer to do no such thing, and just get her back in her damn room without anyone noticing at all. In reality, all the guards had a lot to lose from letting her slip by, so if they were smart they’d just shut the hell up about the whole thing.
Or sell him out to ruin him.
Nino shook his head, trying to clear his rapidly spiraling thoughts and do his job. He couldn’t worry about himself, he had to worry about her. Taking care of the princesses was his job, and he was going to do that whether they liked it or not. The twins may be his main charge, but he also had a responsibility to Alya.
With that in mind, he got to work.
He descended the stairs nearest to the royal chambers quickly, knowing these passageways were largely reserved for servants. At these hours they would be growing sparse for the night, long laborious chores carried out near firelight likely claiming the bulk of the workforce’s attentions. The staircase itself bottomed out into a sheltered flat space, and though he noted there were guards pacing the area, a quiet, witty girl could still possibly get through. If she had managed to slip such a densely guarded hallway, he had no reason to doubt her infuriating tenacity.
Nino looked around, making assessments such as these to rapidly decide which ways she couldn’t go, and breaking down the search from there. Her goal was undoubtably to slip out of the castle all together, meaning she had only one real option, which was the main gate. To go anywhere else would require keys she did not have and patience she likely lacked. The path down to the courtyard from the royal chambers was winding, and he was infinitely grateful that he was not slowed down in the way she probably was. He could traverse hallways in a fraction of the time she could, and to be honest, he felt a subdued sort of giddy feeling at that.
He was a royal guard. While in full armor and in high attendance to the royal family he was permitted nearly everywhere with few exceptions. While it might look suspicious for him to loudly clank his way into a hallway, stare every guard in the eye before whirring around and vanishing down a side passage, he wasn’t actually doing something he wasn’t allowed to.
Nino slid into a dim corridor, which was quite the feat in metal boots to be honest (and fairly loud), and quickly accessed his surroundings, his heart sinking to see no guards in sight. He was near the bottom now and this would soon let out into the courtyard, these storage rooms holding nothing of value that needed to be locked away or looked after. She’d have a dead sprint from here to the open night, and she had quite a lead on him. If he had even correctly guessed her path, he reminded himself. However, his pessimism warmed just slightly as he looked to the end of the corridor.
The door leading out into the courtyard was ever so slightly ajar, the torch light of a passing patrol illuminating the dark stone of the wall. Nino’s pulse quickened as he approached, regretting his noisy entrance now and approaching the door quietly. Surely, he had paced her… surely she hadn’t made it so astonishingly far, but he knew better than to underestimate her.
His heart was racing as he reached for the door, waiting until the torch light faded before slowly pushing it outward, just enough to see.
From his nearly crouched position what he could primarily see was flowers. They were all garish, exotic flowers, the big kind that had unnaturally vibrant colors and attracted flies and beetles. They were foreign though, and he assumed they must be a symbol of wealth of some kind. The kingdoms natural flowers were certainly more pleasant, but rich folk didn’t always care for that sort of thing, which is why this garden wound its way all beneath the guest chambers high above. This garden, the West Garden, was not the one known to be tended to by the Queen (likely why it was so unpleasant up close) but it looked extravagant from a distance he was sure. The stalks were thick and the creeping plants were tall, a suitable place to hide, if not to take your daily strolls.
Nino entered the garden as quietly as possible, closing the door behind him to mimic how he had found it. His body was tense and he could feel his own panic building, doubting himself still and wondering if he was just wasting time. If he was wrong about this he’d have to explain why he waited so long to say anything, he’d be fired but even worse she could get hurt. Worse than anything the princess could be putting herself in danger, and he needed-
He stilled.
Ahead of him by forty yards or so in this long, stinking garden was a subtle flash of movement, amidst a particularly thick row of bushes.
His breath caught as the movement flashed again, and he saw the unmistakable white hem of a dress drag against the ground. He could hardly see her she was crouched so tightly in the dark, but her fidgety movement gave her away. She hadn’t seen him yet, overly confident in the path she had taken and focusing only on the path again.
He made the critical mistake of looking away, leaning out a bit to get a look at what she was so focused on. As he did so he saw to the edge of the garden and further still, out across the bare cobbled ground of the courtyard. Appropriately, a patrol of four guardsmen were passing them by, their torches flickering with their steps. They were headed towards the main gate still far in the distance, and as he assessed it, he saw a shape dart through the dark.
He turned to look as a woman ran, attempting he figured in some way to look casual, if anyone could look casual while clearly trying to evade notice. The unseen guardsmen manning a blind spot she hadn’t accounted for shouted out in surprise as she tried to cling to the darkness of the wall, and she only dared a handful more steps before the patrol turned to look.
Nino looked on in horror as the princess was caught, guards quickly turning to attention and hurrying towards her. It was a fool’s plan and doomed for failure but he couldn’t help the way his heart sank with her posture. Alya stilled… and quieted, refusing to move at first. He could see it even at a distance, as he hurried to stand and stumbled forward.
He could see how straight her back became, how resigned her posture appeared.
He didn’t have a plan as he approached them, hustling now as he saw her fist ball up in the fabric of her dress. He had a lot of things to say but didn’t have the faintest idea what kind of order to put them in.
So the first thing he settled with was a lie.
“Hold on! Hold on, it’s alright! She’s with me.”
Nino stiffened under their gaze, a crowd of armored men turning to look at him in surprise. He wasn’t sure how he appeared but didn’t have the time to worry about it, floundering slightly as Alya herself turned to regard him.
He hesitated for possibly a moment too long as he finally joined the group, gesturing to the princess. “She is with me. Um… her highness, she requested a walk before she retired for the night. A bit of fresh air. Um,” he wavered, desperately trying to sound flat and orderly as Alya gave him an incredulous look. “I was trailing behind at her request, so she could have some space. I’m sure you thought she was out here alone but, clearly, that is not the case. Because I am here with her.”
There was a beat of silence.
“So all is well,” he concluded, hot panic settling on his shoulders as the men looked between themselves. He saw some kind of expression flicker across Alya’s face that he didn’t quiet catch, deciding in a moment that that was probably for the best. The silence was tense, before finally, gratefully, Alya cleared her throat.
“Yes… that is the case. I just wanted to have a bit of time in the courtyard, that’s all. This kind guard agreed to accompany me. I apologize if I frightened you somehow, I know I can walk… briskly.”
As she said this she moved slowly to his side, the awkwardness of the whole encounter starting to get to them.
“Ah, well… it’s quite alright, your highness,” the guard who spotted her finally relented. He shot Nino a weird look which Nino only matched with a nod.
“It’s getting late your highness,” Nino said pointedly, glancing to the side at her. She was looking up at him thanks to their somewhat significant height difference, and he did his best to keep his tone neutral. “Is that enough fresh air for one night?”
Alya tensed and let out an audible exhale, clearing her throat again and flattening her dress. As he turned to look at her more fully he noticed her slyly scraping some dirt from her shoes, her tone stilted as she said, “Yes, I should think so. If you could please return me to my room.”
“As you wish,” was his only reply, relieved as the other men began to drift away.
Alya turned quickly on her heel, brushing past him and walking without further prodding towards the closest entrance. He couldn’t quite place the feeling in his chest as they headed for the steps, noticing that she was stubbornly refusing to look at him at all for a while.
He was struggling with what he thought of it as they entered the hallway, starting the walk back through familiar walkways with no commentary.
When she finally looked back at him her face was full of something like embarrassment and stubbornness, and he could not help himself as he settled on at least one of the things he was feeling.
He was feeling smug.
"I wasn't-"
"Oh, I’m sure you weren't."
"I was just-"
"Of course."
"I was going to-!"
"Surely your highness," he quipped with a note of finality, surprised at his own boldness but unable, truly unable to help himself. He couldn’t deny his irritation, relief a prominent feeling as well. And smugness, there was definitely smugness.
She huffed, facing forward again and marching quicker. He wasn’t going to complain for that, and even if he was still wise enough to have a chill up his spine for upsetting her he had reason enough to believe she wouldn’t have him hanged for a little back talk.
Get him hanged for losing her though, that surely she failed to consider.
She had set the pace sharp and fast, probably eager to be rid of him, but as they got nearer to her room her steps slowed. She dropped back a little, like she was trying to drag it out, and as she did… his stomach sank a little.
He felt like he was marching her to prison.
He was trying to rationalize with himself that he was just doing his job, when suddenly he heard her speak, so quietly he almost missed it.
“The poppies are going to die soon.”
“Your highness?” he asked, trying to step closer but she stayed ahead of him, looking away.
“The poppies in the field,” she replied, just as quiet. “They’ll be gone within a week. I was just…”
When she didn’t finish, their steps were the only thing he could hear. He struggled with what to say, that sinking feeling changing into something else that was harder to name. Something near to guilt but… smothered by his responsibility. He tried to speak, but she didn’t look at him, and he didn’t know if he was supposed to.
His nerves at what to do reached a breaking point as they finally neared the royal chambers, Nino actually starting to feel a bit sick. He internally berated himself for panicking but, he couldn’t help it. He could tell from Alya’s stilted steps that she too was feeling anxious, but at their approach rather than the silence. Neither of them knew exactly what they were going to say next.
His jaw was taut as the time was lost to him. They cleared the final step, and all too soon he was forced to step up to face it head on.
As they approached the guard did as they were trained to do and turned to appraise whomever was seeking access. However, what they certainly did not expect to find was someone who was, as far as they were aware, already inside.
There was an audible sound from every guard gathered, all six men tensing when they saw the eldest princess standing stiffly. She had her head held high and her chin up as they strangled out a gasp of sorts, the most shocked coming from the two most panicked personal guards Nino had ever seen.
“Wh- y- your highness!”, one of her personal guards shouted, looking at his partner, and then at the door they were guarding, and then back to the princess. “You weren’t-,”
“Princess!”
“Lahiffe!” barked a guard, “What is the meaning of this?”
The men all took a step forward, Alya’s two guard’s descending on them quickly as Alya held herself straight, prepared to try and regain control but feeling caught out. Nino instinctively took a step forward, not even considering the possible ramifications of doing so but choosing to put Alya behind him as the men moved towards her. He could clearly see the flash of rage in their expressions when he did it, but Nino was too on edge to care, bolstered in his stance when he felt Alya take a step behind him.
“Well- I just-” Alya began, taking a deep breath to defend herself to the crowd,
when suddenly everyone’s blood ran cold.
At the pointed sound of a door opening.
Alya and Nino both paled in horror as her royal highness, the Queen of Aquitani stepped from her room, every man frying on the spot as she abruptly entered a situation they had no grasp on. The men were reeling from the moment as it was, and suddenly before the Queen?
Nobody knew what the hell to do.
Marlena took an innocent step forward, obviously having been wrapped up in her own thoughts as she stepped out of her chamber. She didn’t look up at first as she assessed some scroll of paper she held in her hands, only looking up to find the nearest guard when she was satisfied with the message she had prepared.
What she hadn’t been expecting, was to find six fully armored men scattered about the hallway and not at any of their posts, looking desperately caught out with her daughter staring wide-eyed at her from behind a seventh guard who looked like he was going to pass out.
Marlena took a moment to look between them all, before straightening up and settling on her daughter. “Alya, what is this? Care to explain?”
The silence, for a moment, was deafening, every man gathered rising to complete attention and clinging to their formal training for some clue of what to do here. Nino did not miss four of the guards subtle attempt to get back to where they were supposed to be, no doubt hoping to blend in to the scenery itself and leave the situation to the morons that were involved in it. As the slunk back to their spots as professionally as possible Nino had just enough time to lock eyes with Alya’s two personal guards.
The message was clear.
‘Don’t do it boys. Don’t fucking do it.’
Alya cleared her throat unsteadily, fixing a smile to her face as she stepped out around Nino, staying close to his side however as she greeted her mother.
“Mother! Hello, I hope we weren’t disturbing you, no everything’s alright. I just, I wanted to see how to twins were uh, behaving! I had heard them getting loud and wanted to make sure they were behaving for their guard but I knew if I said something in front of them they'd deny it and Nino, their guard" she prefaced, unsure if her mother remembered his name and gesturing to him awkwardly, "He might not want to say, in front of them. so I uh, I..." Alya stalled, losing momentum underneath her mother’s withering gaze. She looked to the side at Nino, and to his horror he realized he was expected to help lie.
To the QUEEN.
Nino floundered for a moment, standing up as straight as he could as he said, “Um, your Majesty. The princess called me out briefly at the end of my shift, to discuss the twins. I was um, debriefing her on their behavior at her request- which is why we are out here… in the hallway.”
“Yes,” Alya quickly agreed, nodding confidently, and giving her mother a warm smile. Her personal detail were sweating bullets as they spoke, trading a glance between each other, and looking uncertainly again to Nino. He gave them the exact same expression as before.
‘Don’t do it.’
There was an awkward beat for a moment before Alya said, “How are you mother? Doing well?” And another cheesy smile.
“Hm,” was all Marlena replied at first, narrowing her eyes slightly and looking to the other two guards who hadn’t managed to fade away as convincingly as the others. “Is this the truth?”
Everyone in the hall felt cold as ice, every man here having a choice to make. To tell the truth would put them all at risk of punishment, or even reassignment. Regardless of whatever it was that the new guy had pulled off they were all present for when she must have gotten past them and they were all liable for her well-being. But she was FINE and she was here, and the new guy had somehow fixed it, so the only thing the truth would get them was trouble. All the men gathered could practically feel this sentiment radiating out of the commoner guard, standing tall (if a bit pale) and taking a ridiculous gamble to keep his job. And really, wouldn’t any man do the same if in the end it was no harm done?
The personal detail traded one last glance between them before turning towards the queen, both of them nodding obediently in confirmation.
“Yes your Majesty,” they both echoed, Marlena quirking an eyebrow but making no comment at first.
The queen looked between all who were gathered, squaring her daughter with a serious look, before finally she relented.
“Very well then. My day was fine sweetheart, and while I’m happy to see you minding the girls you should be getting some rest.”
“Yes of course mother, I was just going to bed.”
Alya gave a tight curtsy to her mother out of respect, the guards present giving their finest bow. The Queen turned to give one of her own guards her message, and Alya began to head for her room without further prompting. Her guards escorted her a bit more firmly then was completely necessary, but she allowed it without complaint.
Nino lingered, looking quickly between the Queen and Alya’s retreating form, but the princess was almost completely obscured by the guards who quickly ushered her away. She was lost from sight behind shining armor and stiff formalities, until abruptly the door was shut, and he was out of place.
It took only a few more seconds before the glare of the guards started to pressure him to leave, the panicked energy of the two guards who almost lost it all being converted into postures more befitting a pair of statues. Still though, Nino found himself staring at the heavy oak door… before leaving with what he might have said stuck in his chest.
With his station replaced he had no reason to stay and doing so any longer than he had would surely draw the attention of the queen again, so leaving was the only smart thing to do. It was the ONLY thing to do, because that was his job.
So why then, did he feel choked?
Nino hurried down steps, anxiety creeping up his arms and making him eager to get to his quarters. Before he had been tired, but now he was alive with nervousness. His smugness was as dead to him as his weariness, and the only thing he could think of was the princess.
There had been no closure, everything had happened too fast. Yet he ran through it in his head and it all felt like years apart.
He had meant to be playful, in a way. He had felt smug catching her as he did (or rather catching UP to her) and was foolish enough to tease her in what little ways he could. But her embarrassment in the hallway had been real, and while she had nearly cost the livelihoods and careers of every man in the wing, he too had caused her some humiliation. Not to mention the comment she had made about the poppies… the quiet whisper of her voice…
Now if all things were equal, what she had done was far worse than any transgression from him. Yes he’d caught her out and made an awkward moment for her, but she seemed to have no understanding of the kinds of consequences her actions could have on others. There is no reason they all should have had to lie to keep their jobs, she shouldn’t have been trying to lose them their jobs in the first place!
So maybe that’s what he was feeling? Angry? He mulled it over as he quickly stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding a train of servants toting sheets and blankets.
He clung to the corner and rounded the final rung towards the guards quarters, but before he could cross any real distance the thought was mostly gone from his mind.
No, he decided as he entered the empty common area, he wasn’t angry.
Well maybe he could be, he was irritated but he could understand it from her perspective too. Brief though their interactions had been Nino didn’t truly believe that Alya was trying to harm anyone. If anything she probably had some far flung reasoning that escaping meant SHE was clever, not that THEY were incompetent. And that’s all well and good if that’s what she believes, but in the scheme of things that doesn’t really matter.
Nino allowed himself a heavy sigh, surprised to find himself alone for a change in his tiny, shared room. He was free to disrobe noisily, and for a moment he was tempted to let his armor all crash to the ground, but of course he didn’t do that. He took the weight of each piece into his hands, dusted them off, and set to cleaning them each one by one. Even as he engaged in this nightly ritual he found that buzzing, choking feeling in his chest hadn’t subsided, and the feeling he was grappling with remained frustratingly nameless.
It wasn’t his place to judge a princess, and certainly not to assume her thoughts or intentions. He thought he’d make a pretty poor attempt at it if he even tried, but still. Her actions were a little thoughtless, it may have been some kind of game to her but it wasn’t a game to them. Didn’t she understand that they were all just doing their jobs? The people who guarded her with their lives were not babysitters to be slipped or enemies to overcome. Each and every one of them had sworn fealty to her family name.
His hands slowed over the pauldrons of his armor, examining the warped reflection of his own face in the dim of the room. After a beat he rolled it between his hands, tracing the less refined interior of it . Because things always looked a little less refined on the other side…
He could sympathize with her frustration. Hadn’t he given the same grace to the twins earlier that day? And every day since he’d been charged to them? They were restless and restrained, for their own safety yes, but he couldn’t imagine how maddening that was. If his whole life was in a small stone room, reading and waiting and sounding smart and waiting and looking right and waiting and waiting…
He hummed a little to himself, flipping the pauldron lazily and catching it again, examining what he could make out of the room around him in its face.
Okay so he understood, he wanted to make it better for her, but that didn’t negate the risk of what she did. What if she’d been lost? Or hurt? Kidnapped? He wished the world was safe enough, that she could be normal but that just wasn’t the case.
He sighed. The feeling in his chested ebbed a bit as he confronted what he was feeling as a mixture of irritation and regret. He would have risked just a little bit more if he could have smiled, or even traded a look.
He hoped she understood that he was sorry, in a way. As much as he could be. As much as was reasonable.
As he sat there in his half armor he let the pauldron droop in his hands… and he wondered how much more he could risk, to say what little he’d had no time to say.
----
The next morning, Alya lay awake in her bed but left her eyes closed. She knew it wouldn’t be long before she was ushered away. Today there were the departing arrangements for the guests of theirs who had traveled the furthest, and there were political farewells to be made. She’d be expected to attend their closing sentiments and stand smartly off to the side as they spoke with her father.
She waited dejectedly to be told to move, allowing her sullen mood to have her for awhile. She wasn’t one to wallow, she knew she would wake and shake it off and just get on with it… but for the moment she allowed it. Just for a moment.
When the door to her chambers opened, she didn’t have to look up to see who it was. And she also knew that this particular handmaiden was perfectly aware of the fact that she was awake, her subtle weight settling on the mattress near her feet.
Alya sighed before cracking an eye, rolling her head to look at her favorite maiden. The girl had always been a blessing to her and was among the very few she’d be bold enough to call her friend. For a princess was afforded so few of such a precious thing.
Marinette gave her an unimpressed look, raising an eyebrow before looking away in an attempt to hide her smirk.
“So,” she started plainly, smoothing out her simple dress. “I heard you had an unsuccessful escape attempt last night.”
Alya groaned immediately, rolling over to grab a pillow and slam it to her face in one motion. She could hear Marinette snort and she projected to be heard through the goose down. “WHY did the guards say anything?? I thought they weren’t going to say anything??”
Marinette leaned over to pluck a stray goose feather sticking out of the pillow and held it pinched between two fingers, allowing her highness a moment to thrash in embarrassment before continuing. “Well if it makes you feel any better I don’t think anyone other than me knows, if I wasn’t the gossip would be all over by now.”
Alya pushed the pillow back enough to glare at her, but Marinette remained annoyingly resistant to it. “Then how do YOU know?”
“I’m a special case.”
“Oh?” Alya glowered at her as the maiden seemed suddenly distracted by something, looking down at her apron before looking away again, an eager yet nervous smile on her face for some reason. By the time she looked back at her again, the giddiness was clear in her entire being and she was wiggling a little on the bed.
“Yes, cause you know I had needed an explanation. It looked VERY strange when I was approached this morning, especially with what he was asking me to do so obviously I made him tell me the whole story.”
She gestured to her apron pocket, and for the first time Alya noticed a small, folded cheese cloth just barely poking out.
“It would have been a bit suspicious otherwise” Marinette continued vaguely, almost too giddy to finish. “Had Nino just given me this with no explanation I could imagine it would look a little… out of place. Which is probably why he was completely flushed head to toe when he was telling it to me. He was very insistent that I reassure him it was perfectly appropriate, I think he might have bolted otherwise.”
At the mention of Nino’s name Alya sat up, leaning over to look a little closer at what Marinette was referring to but the maiden pulled away, probably to prolong the drama. The princess frowned then, a bit put out by the mention of the twins’ guard. He had protected her, lied for her even to get her out of trouble but…
She wavered, wondering what she was so annoyed about. She decided quickly it was at Marinette, who was dancing away from her now pulling a vase from a forgotten place on the wall.
“Oh get to the point! What did he say? What did he give you?”
Marinette grinned widely, setting the vase down on a nearby table but returning to her highness’s side to carefully pull the bundle from its place, handling it as if it were made of gold. “Oh nothing much…”
Slowly she extended the white cloth, bulky and loose as if surrounding something frail as Marinette explained, “He had wanted me to say for him that he was sorry for embarrassing you, he was just trying to do his job. And that he wanted me to give you this, before they were all gone.”
Finally she unfolded the cloth, gently, and the Princess looked down to see what had made her maiden so excited.
Alya froze, only her mouth moving as is parted in a silent gasp. She thought too her hand must have frozen, but after a time, her index finger reached out without her command to do so.
And stroked a single red petal, of summer’s last poppies.
Nino loitered uncertainly in the corridor a short distance from the King’s chambers, pulling with undeniably shaky fingers at his royal seal. Being dressed in Full Armor did not fill him with as much pride as it had before, instead now it serves as a reminder for the scrutiny he was about to be under.
Nino leaned out from his hiding spot in a random archway, hoping his two-sided luck would hold and Adrien might appear. He just wanted some kind of reassurance that he looked appropriate for an audience with the King. The last time he had one he had been in torn worker’s clothes with too-big tattered boots and an old sword at his hip. The things he wore now were significantly more impressive but… if he wore any of it wrong he’d look just as much like a farmer as he did when he first got there.
All the senior guards had conveniently ignored him this morning… so he had no confirmation one way or another.
The thought made his hands feel hot as he struggled to repress that twist of anger. So much hard-won ground had been shattered underneath him last night. Part of him resented the Captain for causing such a scene, but no doubt she had her own opinions. He couldn’t even imagine how long she must have fought and struggled to be acknowledged even once by the royal family, or perhaps her motivation was more on behalf of her men. He couldn’t tell, not like he even knew what this was all about yet, but even as far in as the royal chambers he could practically feel all the veterans rooting against him, hoping he would be punished somehow. Like that would somehow be fair.
There were a few who didn’t care about his summon, Kim for one. He had caught wind of Nino’s little scene with the royal family from all the gossip, but it hadn’t occurred to him to mind at all. He was just sad he had missed it since it sounded so hilarious, and though Kim probably didn’t mean it as supportive per say Nino was grateful for it regardless. And the Captain has relaxed as well after her initial outburst so… he had no idea where he stood with her. Still, whatever allies he had retained hadn’t been around to help him get ready. He had only ever worn full armor once, and while he was reasonably sure he had done it right, he felt abruptly…
Alone.
Nino waited as long as he could, pulling at the straps of his armor and trying to keep his anxiety from paralyzing him as the seal slipped and folded. The more he tugged at it and the more it bunched and slipped, the more stranded he felt.
Servants and messengers passed him quietly, their duties sending them streaming passed like he was left to stand on a solitary bank, untouched by the current. He was almost out of time to stall now, and he took a moment of his privacy to breathe.
For the first time in a while… he felt like a farm boy. Holding his father’s sword in a field and pretending to be a soldier.
He breathed deeply again, attempting to steel himself in whatever way he could, when-
“It’s the loop.”
The voice could not have been gentler, but the guard jumped regardless, turning quickly to face the interrupted stream.
Nino looked and found a servant meeting his gaze, the girl looking apologetic for startling him but raising her free hand to point at his shoulder. “The seal,” she explained, her voice girlish and sweet, “If it doesn’t catch it won’t stay, you can’t pin it or it will slip when you move.”
The girl smiled warmly and shifted the weight of the basket on her hip. She was dressed plainly, like a worker, but her natural beauty could not be hidden in simple clothing. Her dark black hair poured loosely on her shoulders, and she matched him with kind, blue eyes as she waited for a response.
“The- oh-,” he finally answered, feeling a little lame as he tried to look. His armor was too bulky to allow him to see what she might have meant, but before he could come up with the words to ask she was placing her things against the archway and stepping forward to help him.
“It’s easier to do it as you’re getting dressed,” she coached gently, stretching up onto her tip-toes to fidget with the weighty cloth. She smiled when he tilted his shoulder down to make it easier for her, now crouched a little awkwardly but trying to be accommodating.
He was quiet for an unsteady moment more, but when she stepped back to examine her work he couldn’t help but blurt out, “T-thank you!”
“Anytime,” she answered genuinely, making a show of checking for any other problems.
He hurried to hold his arms out, eager and relieved to have the second opinion. He smiled and sighed happily when she nodded, finding no other faults and nodding her head once more in confirmation.
“So everything’s good?” he double checked anyways, grateful that she was humoring him, even if she laughed a little.
“Fit for a King,” she reassured him.
The stranger bent down to retrieve her things but Nino beat her to it, quickly picking up her basket so he could hand it to her.
“Thank you so much,” he said again, laughing a little. “Genuinely. You have no idea how much better I feel having someone to tell me I don’t look like an idiot.” He rubbed at the back of his hair a little with a gloved hand, a gesture he could never really kick. “I get… uh, nervous,” he admitted.
To his surprise she laughed again, the sound of it sweet. “Everyone does, it’s okay. But I am glad I could make you feel better.”
“What’s your name?” he asked quickly when it looked like she was going to leave.
“Marinette. And I know who you are,” she answered with a slight curtsy. “It’s very nice to meet you Nino.”
Nino stood there with a dumb expression on his face, opening his mouth as if to respond but falling short, settling for a frown when she laughed at him again. “… my captain might have a point about my name getting around.”
“It’s not a bad thing, honest! It’s just that, well, the servants talked a lot about you when you first showed up.” She gave him a little shrug and another one of her smiles, gesturing with her head down the hallway. It took him a second to realize she was urging him to get going, probably having some sense that he was going to be late. “It makes sense for all of us to know who you are.”
“I guess…,” he allowed, glad when he noticed she was heading the same direction as him. They walked a little while. “Do people… like me?”
She laughed again and he frowned at her playfully, but she didn’t seem to mind making fun of him. And, honestly, that was pretty nice.
“Yes Nino, people like you, you’re a hero to a lot of them you know.”
“Oh, well I-… hm,” he hummed quietly, naturally walking with practiced steps now as they made their way towards the royal rooms. After a moment he said, “I never really set out to be a hero or anything. I was just trying to find paying work.” He mulled it over for a second and gave her a shrug too. “Guess I got a little overzealous.”
He shared in her laugh this time, some of the posted guards he passed giving him a look, but he didn’t care. The servants that passed them in hurried errands watched them curiously, a few of them smiling even, and that held a lot more weight to him, he realized.
As they walked and talked lightly about not much at all, it occurred to him that he might be worrying a little too much about what people thought again.
A simple thought that probably wouldn’t stick but… hey, he was trying.
He hadn’t been very far from his destination when he faltered, so it wasn’t much of a walk until they were passing the royal chambers he was familiar with, Marinette pausing in front of the door he recognized as Alya’s. He couldn’t help but peer at it curiously, Marinette diverting his attention for a moment with a curtsy.
“Thank you for escorting me, sir,” she said for show, Nino aware for the first time of the two guards posted outside the princess’s room watching them intently.
“No problem mam,” he replied with a bow, Marinette giggling a little at the informality. He swore he heard one of the guards huff, but whatever. Screw them.
He was done trying to impress people who didn’t matter.
“Thank you again,” he added, lingering a little to look through the gap she created as she opened the door. He couldn’t see anyone inside, the servant possibly looking to complete a task while the princess was away.
“Anytime,” she repeated.
It was too short but… they both looked at the posted guards, and reluctantly they let their interaction end. Nino was quite possibly going to be late now and that was completely unacceptable, but he had gotten so caught up in the small talk.
As Marinette disappeared inside he was left to hustle down the hallway, hyper aware now of the servants as he passed them. The hallway wasn’t too crowded as he crossed the short distance to the King’s chambers, but a few of them looked. A few of them smiled.
And he felt a little less abandoned.
The King’s Chambers were empty as he paced his room, wanting to enjoy this rare moment of solitude but his mind too heavy with guarded thoughts. He didn’t even find peace enough to sit, though he wouldn’t have been able to. Every chair in his well-furnished chamber was stacked with parchments and letters, each one a source of distraction. He paused for a moment and picked one up, finding yet another confirmation of attendance, which was good, he supposed. More arguments to be had, more things to discuss. All the same things, so little ever decided. He had managed to spare his children from this particular round of discussion, even Alya though she of course assumed it was out of punishment. Still though, he knew she wouldn’t complain.
As soon as his thoughts turned towards his daughters, he was interrupted by the familiar wrap of an armored hand on the door.
“Your summon is here for you, sire,” one of his personal guards called in, his voice stilted and professional.
Otis stood for a moment… frowning. … had he called for someone? A servant perhaps. To send something? He hoped not, he had nothing to be sending. Or did he have something and he had just forgotten? That was probably… bad. If he had sent for a messenger, he definitely had a message that needed sending, but- hm…
“Come,” the King called, fully prepared to make something up. One perk of being the King is that you usually went unquestioned, but he felt a little haggard and old to have something slip his-
The door opened and a tall guard stepped calmly through, and the moment the King saw his face he was relieved to have his conversation with the Captain the day before suddenly spring to mind.
RIGHT.
“Yes, yes, I remember now,” he muttered out loud by way of greeting, gesturing at the guard as he took a post near the door closing behind him, bowing obediently. “Excellent, you’re right on time. I intended to speak with you in person. Nino, yes?” he confirmed his name despite being fairly certain of it, if only to give him an opening to respond.
“Yes Your Majesty,” he replied right away, his voice firm.
The King paced closer, his hands folded behind his back as he examined him. He had not scrutinized him this closely since Adrien had first brought him to be considered, having not even seen him again until yesterday. He was dressed appropriately and held himself more confidently then he had when they had first met, but he had grown since then. Not is stature, but something else.
He was made of something stronger now.
The King looked away from him, enjoying the moment but not having long to spend on this. His eyes wandered over the many papers and tomes that required his attention, but he looked back to the boy to give him what focus he was due.
“Did your Captain inform you of the nature of this summon?” he asked plainly, lifting a stack of papers from one of the chairs nearby.
“No sire.”
“Really?” Otis replied, shrugging a little. “I suppose I didn’t tell her much. When I asked her about your performance, she was begrudgingly honest.” The King couldn’t help but smile at him with humor. “I think a guard sticking out so much annoys her, but between you and I she has no room to be so critical.”
He rolled his eyes, and Nino was struck briefly by how humanizing that was, though the King himself did not seem to notice.
“I still remember when that tiny woman fought her way through the entire Knight’s Tourney and lit the social hierarchy of the castle on fire just by showing up,” he continued with a chuckle. “Comparatively? You are very quiet. But second to a hurricane is to be expected.”
There was a moment where the boy said nothing, but when he looked up at his silence the guard smiled. “The Captain carves a figure sire, I don’t want to make her angry.”
“Wise man!” Otis exclaimed, rewarding him with a smile and enjoying how this seemed to make him relax a little.
This young lad has been here for a season now, but despite what may have been his best effort he still did not quite vanish into the crowd like he must have intended. However, he could understand why his daughter’s might have been intrigued by that difference.
“I have duties for you to attend to, so I will keep this brief. I’m sure you have taken notice of the number of visitors the castle is entertaining at the moment…?” Otis let it hang in the air, waiting for Nino’s ‘Yes Sire,’ before continuing. “Well, we will be expecting a good deal more within the coming weeks for political purposes and the castle will be crowded as a result. I’m sure you can understand that security is our highest priority.”
“Of course sire,” he obediently replied, looking serious.
Otis gave him a slight nod of approval, elaborating as he stepped away to look over the papers crowded on his desk. “With every noble comes an entourage of guards who aren’t ours and servants we don’t know. Things are bound to be overheard and whispered about before long… For the most part the people give me their good faith, but the air within the castle grounds is sure to be tense, in time.” He looked over at the guard standing attentively, eager it seemed to show him that same good faith he spoke of. He nearly smiled again but kept his expression even.
“In times like these, I worry about my daughters. With so many people in the castle I tend to restrict their movements and they resent me for it, but my intentions are good. We have many guards and this is their home, but until we have our privacy it is best if they stay in this wing of the castle, unless needed elsewhere.”
Otis made a vague gesture with his free hand, pointing out towards the direction of the hall somewhat dismissively.
“We have our regular detail of course, they will remain, but when it came to their personal guard you came to mind.”
The King had been looking through the papers in his hands with distraction but glanced up just in time to catch the shock running across the young man’s face. He mastered it quickly of course, fumbling for a professional distance but his earnest nature betraying him somewhat. This time Otis couldn’t help his smile, seeing what his wife may have meant when she spoke of him. He did seem… young. But he wasn’t a fool. He had spoken to both the Captain and Adrien directly on this matter, and even if Alix had done so with distaste, she gave a fair and honest report on his abilities. Whether she was pleased or not to have her senior guards passed over, she assured him that the young man was capable and driven.
“They like you,” the King explained, raising an eyebrow slightly and was glad to see that the boy still had enough wits about him to look nervous. “They told me all about you yesterday… I was skeptical, but it was my wife who encouraged me to reconsider. It was her suggestion that we assign you to them.”
He continued to watch the boy carefully, attempting to gauge his emotions and finding this moment important. The safety of his children was no small consideration.
“They are bound to hate me for cooping them up,” he continued, sighing, “but I am prepared for that. The least I can do is give them someone they like. They might get bored eventually but it’s worth a try if it means keeping them happy.” He grumbled a little at how this might go poorly for him… and after a moment he narrowed his eyes, sealing the guard to the spot.
“My daughters mean everything to me, your first priority is always their safety. However, if you can manage to also keep them happy and behaved… I encourage you to try.”
Otis relaxed only slightly and looked away to give the boy room to release the breath he was holding. “Who knows, they might even listen to you. You’ve had great luck before, perhaps you’ll have some more.”
“Thank you, your Majesty,” the boy said somewhat breathlessly, his expression awed and determined. It was very similar to the look her had given him before, when he was awarded a place in the castle. “It is… an honor, sire.”
The young guard bowed deeply, overwhelmed it would seem. Otis nodded and waited for him to stand, looking him in the eye. Nino did not look away at first, perhaps he did not think to. Little things like that showed where he came from, but as he hurried to correct himself Otis had faith that he had practice where it counted. Maybe not in courtesy or court proceedings but… he seemed earnest, and incredibly loyal.
When the boy had stood before him as he was sworn into the guard, he had sworn his fealty with an intensity he could never have appreciated from one of his people; his greater, humbler people. He could do with more time, and teachings… but there was also something else. Something unteachable that Adrien had assured him of.
He would gladly give his life to uphold what he had sworn to, and that intensity gave him some small comfort. It was a position of relatively little risk, for now. He was the last one in a long line of obstacles between the world and his daughters, but that final barrier was an important one. He was curious to see how this farmer would do.
“You will be assigned as the personal guard of my twin daughters; you are not to leave their side until the visitations have concluded. Then we will see what to make of you.”
Something flashed across his face, just minutely.
Oh.
The twins?
Oh. Yes, of course.
Of course, he had meant the twins. That made a lot of sense. He had just sort of assumed- but, well he had said they. He just thought he meant- well the daughters. But yes, the twins. He was to watch the twins.
Nino wrestled with the pride that grew within him, in a war for his life with the grin threatening to compromise his composure. He was bursting at the seams with energy, completely overwhelmed with determination. Within one audience he was again aware of the seal on his shoulder, the vibrant purple of it so present in his mind he thought he might drown in it. HA! And so many of the old bastards in the guard were waiting for him to fail! Hoping he would be punished!
The King milled around his desk for a moment, murmuring to himself and sifting through papers, and despite his confidence high he felt another spark of unease as he was unsure of what to do. He hadn’t actually been-
“That will be all I imagine,” the King finally said, “You are to defer to your Captain for orders and instruction, though I imagine the Knights may wish to speak with you as well. You are dismissed, but Nino,” he added abruptly, cutting off the bow the boy was about to give him. He looked him in the eye again, stressing his authority. “Remain attentive.”
“I- yes, of course Your Majesty,” Nino managed, his pride somewhat deflated by what seemed to be doubt, but he shook it off easily enough as he bent into a deep bow. Fine then, he thought to himself as he stood up straight, turning and leaving with measured, confident steps.
All he could ask for were opportunities. Chances, risks, that’s all. His whole life here was a series of gambles he stubbornly leaned into, again and again, and he wasn’t about to quit now. Part of him was ashamed of himself for ever wavering, letting his worries get the better of him as he quaked in the hidden archway like a child. Everyone was waiting for it to collapse in on him, and maybe he was as well. But until then, he thought, marching down the hall standing above all the others,
I’m not stopping.
-----------------------------
“STOP! Stop that both of you!”
Nino’s desperate shouts were met with mischievous laughs, overlapping each other and shrieking shrilly as he dashed through the ruined chamber, snatching Ella from the edge of her balcony as her sister screamed and ran passed him, diving for her bed and crawling underneath. Ella flailed in his arms, still in one of her formal dresses despite the fact that she was supposed to be in bed AGES ago, rebelling against him as they had the time of their lives. “Etta! Get out of there right now!”
All he got back was her screaming laughter, kicking further beneath the bed as Ella finally wrestled free and ran to join her, laughing hysterically as Nino caught one of her ankles, tugging her back. As he pulled her back and groaned in frustration he fell heavily to one knee, Ella tucked underneath one arm as he crouched and fished his free hand underneath the huge bed frame. He barely caught the edges of Etta’s dress with his finger tips but it was enough to get a grip, apologizing in his mind to the seamstress he knew was responsible for their dresses repair and tugging harshly, sliding the giggling princess out into the open so he could glare at her.
This was SO not his damn job.
“Your handmaidens are going to be here any minute so both of you settle down! It’s bed time and I expect you to listen!”
“You can’t tell us what to do!” Etta piped up, her face scrunching up as her playful sneer was ruined by her laughter. “We’re princesses!”
“Oh, don’t even try it,” Nino muttered, scooping her up under his other arm and toting them towards the bed as they laughed and laughed, knowing full well that excuse didn’t work anymore.
The twins thought they were so funny, nobody entertained them like they could entertain themselves. Separated they were docile but together they were ridiculous, and honestly it was his own fault.
He’d been at this for two weeks now and he was losing his mind trying to contain the monsters he had made of these two little girls.
Everything had started out just fine. It had honestly made his day to see the look on their faces when he was presented to them as their personal guard. They had been in public company at the time so they did their best to restrain themselves, their parents strict lessons on formality no doubt ringing in their ears but they still grinned up at him with joy. He didn’t bother to hide his warm smile in return, letting them be excited, and letting himself be a little excited as well. He took his position very seriously, but he was relishing in the opportunity he had reflected upon before. How these kids could not be children, there in the halls or even in the body of the castle. They had been children only a few times since he had met them and they had come to know his name, twice in a hallway and once in a field… and he had wished then that he might give them more of that.
But THIS was bullshit.
Nino tossed them both roughly onto the bed, giving them a glowering look that they both seemed unphased by, rolling around and laughing to themselves. He gave a heavy sigh and smoothed down their dresses, in the middle of reminding them to be lady like with their skirts when there was a knock on the door.
“Speak,” he called out, having to project to be heard.
He immediately sighed in relief when the familiar voice of one of their handmaidens reached him, turning and heading towards the door as he said, “Enter.”
The girls sat upright but were still laughing to themselves as the handmaiden entered, carrying their sleepwear in her hands and greeting them sweetly. However, when she looked up at Nino her greeting died in her throat, instead replaced by a sympathetic chuckle.
“Having a hard time?”
“That’s one way of putting it,” he grumbled sourly, allowing the princesses to hear him and grimacing at their chorus of laughter. Nino gave the maiden the most genuine look of frustration he could possibly muster as he abandoned the girls and crossed over to her, saying quieter, “The other way of putting it is not age appropriate.”
He got a laugh out of her like he had been hoping, her muffled giggles into the cloth she was holding enough to mollify him a little (only a little). Mylene, as she was called, looked up at him with pity, and then suddenly held out her things for him to hold.
He took them in confusion but watched obediently as Mylene slowly reached up to tie back her thickly corded hair with a long cloth, her expression settling into the most relieving thing he could possibly see.
The mom face.
He sighed audibly as she snatched back their things from him, calling out in a sing song voice, “Now, your highnesses,” and it was utterly effective.
The twins halted in their bouncing, growing still as their maiden strode towards them, scolding them in that same, oddly firm sing-song tone. “You know it’s time to be getting ready for bed, so it’s not very fair to give your guard a hard time now is it?”
Etta and Ella were quiet, shooting each other looks before mumbling something like, “Well you weren’t here-,”
“Yeah so we were playing and-,”
“Well,” Mylene cut them off, busying herself with gathering them up despite their protests, “me running a little behind is no reason to run rampant, so let’s get you two ready.”
She waved her hands at them dismissively as their complaints got more pronounced, and Nino couldn’t help but smile smugly when they glared at him. It was a petty victory to have to rely on the maidens again but he didn’t have that way with them yet, he was a guard not a caretaker. Usually at least one of their four maidens was with them, the leader of the bunch being Mylene, but in the brief time where they were not… it was chaos.
He had no one but himself to blame.
He jolted from his thoughts when Mylene suddenly turned on him as well, coming at him quickly and shooing him with her hands, pushing him out the door while explaining, “Go! They need to be washed and changed I’m already late as it is, go!” And then he was out in the hallway, left to breathe a blissful sigh.
Thank god for the maidens… it was almost an entirely genuine prayer, he thought it with as much reverence.
Nino posted up near the door to the twin’s room, relaxing a little more than he might normally since his presence was clearly superfluous. There were six other guards in this hallway alone, not to mention how many of them were posted nearby. The other guards looked over at him when he was pushed out into the open, but quickly returned to minding their spaces and he was left without their attention.
This was more or less his routine, having gone through a similar schedule every day for the last two weeks. What the young princesses were expected to do to occupy their time changed every day, but their movements were so restricted through the bulk of the castle’s meetings that for the most part they spent their day in the same wing they slept in. Nino was forced to stand by quietly as they diligently practiced and studied, watching over them as they saw to their lessons and whiled away their time. There were very few pockets of chaos as they did this, normally reserved for when he was escorting them back to their rooms for the evening to sew or read. That’s when they would start getting rowdy, and he would have to corral them inside when they were at their most energetic. Of course they would be, they were asked to sit and curtsy and sing for hours during the morning and early afternoon, they were children of course they get hyper. So, he tried to be understanding of their little outbursts but god it was so hard to manage. The handmaidens had a masterful approach by now that he did not, and since he was their most interesting ‘new friend’ he was put through quite a bit.
The maidens had gotten to quite like him, thankfully, Mylene being one of the only ones he had actually met beforehand. He often saw her hanging around Ivan, waiting for him to be done with his shifts or crowding around to watch him spar. No doubt she had been with him before realizing she was going to be late, but who was he to ask. The thought made him smile.
That was a little inappropriate, a royal guard and a handmaiden, but it wasn’t so bad. He was noble born but its not like he was a duke or anything, and she was high up in the inner circle as one of the young princesses’ caretakers. So it wasn’t so bad, and almost no one minded. Not that Ivan had admitted to it yet, despite everybody’s teasing.
The only other servant in the royal company that he recognized before starting was Marinette, and that was only by a handful of hours. He knew her now to be the chamber attendant to Her Royal Highness Alya Cesaire, but he did not get to see her often. A few pleasant conversations but not much more yet.
It was starting to get late as his mind slowly began to turn towards the twin’s older sister, but he was distracted before long by the gentle, distant call of his charges from inside.
He smiled, both at their insistence of telling him good night, and at the fact that he would soon be off duty. He was working for the entirety of their waking hours so breaks and privacy were rare and short lived. Still though, as a result the pay was astronomically better and just two weeks of work put him miles ahead in his family’s winter fund so… he wasn’t going to complain.
The job had plenty of perks too, he supposed.
He knocked before entering and shut the door quietly behind of him, in a significantly more even mood now that he had had a moment to recollect himself. He was actually about to apologize for being rough with them when he looked up and across the room to their bed and was disarmed by a smile.
“Hello farm boy,” Alya greeted quietly, focusing more on tucking the girls in for the moment, but glancing over to receive his returning smile. And his little bow.
“Hello Your Highness,” he answered without hesitation, gesturing to the door on the left wall that connected this room to her own, “I hadn’t realized you were in your room. I apologize if we were being loud.”
“Oh I’m always in my room,” she grumbled quietly, moving a strand of hair from Ella’s face and only speaking up to say, “And I don’t mind the noise. It sounded like the girls were having fun, even if,” and she glared at them, “it was at their guard’s expense?”
The twins giggled but did not answer, offering no apology whatsoever and Alya looked back just in time to see Nino roll his eyes.
The girls were still giggly but it looked like they were getting tired, Mylene still somewhere nearby it sounded like, probably wrapping up for the night. His replacements to guard the door should be arriving soon, and everyone was getting ready to end the day.
Nino was just in the process of deciding whether or not he was allowed to strike up a conversation when Alya stood up a little abruptly, smoothing her somewhat simple (but still elegant) dress with her hands. She leaned over to kiss both of her sisters on the forehead, stepping away towards him with the intention to pass him it seemed like, and he squashed his disappointment at the missed moment. Tomorrow maybe… but she seemed to be busying herself, already at the hall door by the time she was addressing her sisters.
“Sleep tight you two, and don’t be making a fuss. You’ve been a little too rowdy today and I’m going to be giving your Night Guards a special instruction to come and put you both to bed if they hear anything. So stay in bed.”
She gave them what felt like a fake glare and Nino had no doubt they intended to ignore her entirely but… that was night guards problem.
Still though he raised an eyebrow at her hasty exit, leaving as soon as he arrived and forgoing the door that just went to her room. Instead she was going to take the hall, so she could pass on a message? But she could have just asked him to do that, he was the one passing off to them anyways.
He was going to suggest this when Alya just opened the hall door, giving the twins a final good night and Nino a goodbye of his own, before she quickly but quietly shut the door behind her, and he was alone with the girls once again.
Well the girls and Mylene but she was busy.
Nino was still looking at the hall door with a frown when the twin’s tried to get his attention but…
“Sir Guard,” Ella whined, “Ninnoooo,” and he finally turned, clearly distracted and looking back towards the hall a few times.
“Yes?”
“Goodnight!” Etta exclaimed, like it was obvious, waving a little though he was fairly close to her. Her sister copied her and Nino waved back, smiled, but then looked back to the door, a bad feeling creeping up on him.
The twins were saying something more but he started to make a hasty exit of his own, mollifying them with a few warm goodnights and assurances that he would see them in the morning, but heading quickly for the door as well.
Because it had taken him a moment to realize but the replacements for the night weren’t actually there yet.
Nino opened the door with a little more gusto then necessary and left his charges pouting a bit but he had something slightly more pressing to be concerned with.
Nino entered the quiet, stuffy stone hallway with a significant spike in awareness, not taking anything lightly just because there were others around to watch his back. Mostly because, judging by the gap in security, he wasn’t actually as covered as he had assumed.
He looked down towards Alya’s room and felt a horrible crawl of dread against his skin as he saw her two personal guards waiting obliviously a good distance away, distracted by something and talking amongst themselves. The two of them were still of course doing their job and guarding the door, but…
Nino had a terrible feeling that they were under the impression it was occupied.
‘Okay, okay that’s fine. We don’t need to freak out yet, she couldn’t have made it too far surely someone would have seen her,’ he thought to himself placatingly, looking frantically down both ends of the hall and not seeing much besides a good chunk of guards who couldn’t have possibly missed that. So she must be back inside because how could they have not seen her.
Right so… Nino shifted his weight uneasily, the clink of his boots muffled slightly on the plush, ornate rugs left everywhere. She was out of his sight for… maybe thirty seconds, which was growing rapidly as he hemmed and hawed. He had every reason to assume that surely the six other guards in the hall had seen her standing there, taken her message on behalf of the night watch and escorted her back to her room. Yeah, that’s what happened probably, he probably just missed her.
He tried to let himself breathe a little, but he felt warm and uncomfortable for awhile more anyways. That was pretty irresponsible of him… in his defense he had been directly called in by royalty and could not disobey and there was plenty of presence in the hall, and his position inside the room always constituted that room as guarded regardless of the positions at the door, but if he wasn’t at the door and someone left then he was left relying on everyone else to catch it.
And he didn’t like relying on anyone else.
But what could he do really, order one of the others to watch his door for him? Half of the guard hated him, and the royal hall was almost always reserved for senior guards so usually everyone in the hallway hated him. So they would likely not listen to him anyways, or report him for negligence.
Oh well that was a great thought… they were probably just waiting till the ends of their shifts now to tell Alix about how Alya left the twin’s room unattended.
It was like, two seconds… ugh.
The severity of their watch really must be driving the daughters crazy at this point, and Nino fought a frown at the thought. Two full weeks of constant uninterrupted watch, and it would keep on for a few more days, or so the servants had told him.
Nino continued to bear the stiff silence of the hall, the only sound the occasional chatter from Alya’s guards a ways away from him. He watched them with a skeptical eye for a while, wondering where they got off chatting so much. And moving so much, every few minutes one of them would wander off and check the windows, looking around before returning to their post.
With such diligence, inconsistent though it seemed to be they surely saw Alya leave, and surely returned her to her room. It was almost as certain that this likely irritated her which… he completely understood. He mourned his own privacy while working so closely with the twins, he couldn’t imagine that being the entirety of his life. The rumors he had heard over time of the princesses (mostly Alya) sneaking off or even attempting to evade their guard (again, mostly Alya) had been entertaining when he heard them, but now as they occurred to him they seemed a little dismal. And also a little alarming, but again, six guards in a hallway. Wasn’t even a problem. Some of them weren’t even facing this door and a few of them were talking amongst themselves but still, six.
Regardless, he wished he could offer her royal highness some kind of reprieve, more so then kind smiles and informal chit-chat whenever he could spare it. If he could give her freedom he liked to think he would, so long as she didn’t try to run off on him.
Which she wouldn’t do, and hadn’t done, especially not now.
…
Doubt clung to his back as he started to shift uneasily in place, trying to decide just how much stock he was willing to put in rumors versus the capability of his fellow guards. He watched her personal detail start talking again, laughing at something and turning away… and his fear for the worst grew past his ability to give good faith.
“Ehem,” he eventually dared, every guard in the hallway instantly turning to regard him and nearly all of them sneering. He swallowed slightly but straightened his back, trying and failing to be casual as he said, “Um, just a status report. Before I leave for the night um… but where is the eldest princess? She’s… in her room, I suppose?”
There was a brief disbelieving silence before four of the guards just straight up ignored him, the final two being Alya’s personal detail who snorted condescendingly.
“Obviously,” cracked the senior guard, his partner laughing meanly as if to mock him. “What the hell you think we’ve been doing all day?” The two shot each other a look, shaking their heads at his idiocy and returning to their not so diligent guard,
Okay i actually wrote this maybe... two years ago? And i’ve always loved it so so much and I’ve only just finally finished it. Honestly pretty proud of the tone and the fun vibe and the cuteness so please if you will! Adrino Diner!AU!!
6k
Adrien had a favorite restaurant, like many serial commuters and busy people tend to have. Some people pick for location, or speed or menu or environment, but as far as he was concerned his favorite had absolutely everything going for it.
It was close to his apartment (a nice morning walk) and opened early and closed late. It had the best comfort foods around, no matter what time you came, and it always tasted like a homecooked meal. It was tucked off the main track so tourists were never too frequent, though enough to stimulate business he hoped, and he never had any trouble getting a table.
By all rights he should, but he was such a regular that he was fairly certain the family who owned the place moved things around to make sure he always got his favorite table if it was open. He was known for tipping very well but had enough of a banter with the servers to think that they might just like him anyway even if he didn’t.
Adrien stretched as he stepped through the restaurant’s threshold that morning, chuckling a little as he looked around to confirm that he actually was the first customer of the day, or at least the only one currently in the building. His morning routine usually landed him there right after opening, where he had plenty of time to leisurely eat his fill before going to work. However, being so early usually meant that whatever staff was there wasn’t entirely prepared for him.
He waited patiently at the entrance, closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth that warded off the cool November morning. He could smell coffee and hear the distant sounds of a kitchen just barely waking up, when he heard a familiar call of, “Oh! Good Morning!”
Adrien cracked an eye to see his favorite server poke his head out from the kitchen, quickly stepping out and drying his hands on a towel as he greeted him.
Nino looked just as tired as he was, his short dark hair a bit ruffled and his gold eyes heavy with sleep, but his smile was just as kind as always, brightening when Adrien returned his greeting.
“Dude I don’t know how you always get here so early; I get paid to do it and I barely wake up on time.”
Adrien couldn’t help but chuckle, the two of them navigating to his well-worn window seat. “I was gonna say that I was surprised to see you opening for a change, I normally only catch you at lunch time. I prefer now though, I like to eat when its slow and I can take as long as I want.”
Nino moved a step ahead to set up the table, talking over his shoulder and he found a menu and a set of silverware.
“I’ve been opening more and more lately, it’s like my cousins realized my mid-day shift was a sweet gig compared to setting the restaurant up, and now they won’t stop taking my shifts.” Nino shot him a sleepy smile as he added, “And for the record, I have never rushed you out. You’re always the one who pays in the middle of your meal.”
Adrien waited patiently as he finished setting up, mumbling something like “I feel bad wasting a table when you’re busy though…”, which made him laugh.
“Dude, you’ve paid enough in tips by this point to have a deed to that table, it’s yours. So,” he fished in his apron for a pen, clicking it pointedly as he turned towards his guest. “What can I get going for you?”
“What’s ready?” Adrien countered as he sat, laughing too when Nino sighed in exhaustion.
“Literally nothing, I got in so late man. Once Ahmed wakes up a little though we should be able to get whatever. Uh,” Nino looked towards the kitchen before smiling bashfully. “Maybe a coffee for now? I have coffee.”
“Coffee’s good, no rush. I’ve got a late call time today so I’m not in a hurry at all.”
“Thank god,” Nino breathed out in a rush, shaking his head when Adrien snickered. He looked back at the kitchen again, glaring a little when no sound interrupted him. “… the kitchens gone quiet… which means Ahmed probably passed out or something. I’ll uh, go get your coffee, I know how you like it.”
Nino gave him a little thumbs up before tucking away his pretty unnecessary pen and darting off towards the long vacant counter in the back of the restaurant. He only stopped to wake up the main computer and quickly throw on some ambient music before running to the back, making himself known again only by the distant shouting that sounded in the kitchen a short time later.
Adrien settled in to wait, leaning back in his familiar booth with half lidded eyes as he gazed aimlessly out the window. Every once in a while, he would hear some clatter or tone or bustle from the kitchen and it would make him smile a little, enjoying the quiet lo-fi type beat Nino had thrown on before getting swallowed by his chores.
The music was always better when he was working.
When his coffee finally came Adrien accepted it gladly, Nino looking a little more awake but still a bit stressed out as he ‘took his order’. He did the quotation marks himself, apologizing again because it was gonna be a minute for sure but his patience was really appreciated and everything. He scribbled down the order and was already mumbling to himself about the delivery truck and cleaning and who should have done what when closing the night before as he dashed away again, not leaving them much of a chance to chat, unfortunately. Adrien watched him leave as he sipped on his coffee, which despite his rush Nino still managed to make in his specific way and was distinctly glad again that he was the only one in the building. Nino and Ahmed would probably be way more stressed out if there was someone around who might actually mind.
He was glad that Nino knew him enough from all his patronage to understand that he wasn’t going to be a hassle.
Maybe, when Nino got more practice in with opening, he would be more prepared early on in the weekdays and they could maybe talk for a moment.
He had this sort of humble (pathetic) fantasy of saying good morning and sharing a smile, and then maybe inviting him to sit for a minute at his table when it was slow and he had nothing to do. Give him a bit of a chance to say something more impressive than his breakfast order for a change. Actually leave an impression, maybe.
… alright fine he might have a lot of reasons for this to be his favorite restaurant.
He felt a little warm under the collar suddenly when he admitted that to himself, frowning at his half-drained cup of coffee like it had something to do with it. And it sort of did, actually, little gestures like remembering how to make his coffee in his favorite way without having to be asked contributing to his lame little fantasies.
They were pretty harmless, he certainly wasn’t the first person to entertain a distant whimsical crush based on not much more than breakfast orders. It felt lame to call it a crush but he didn’t have a better word for it, some part of him understanding it was a little pathetic to feel that way about some random waiter he barely knew.
He was just some charming man with a bright smile and outdated lingo who thought he was pretty hilarious and was kind of right. And a warm laugh and a lot of personality, and he played video games and had a lot of neat music.
Nothing interesting about any of that.
Adrien sighed, moodily sipping his drink.
He really needed to get out more… this could not keep being the highlight of his day. He needed some other stuff going on besides a ridiculously habitual eating schedule dictated by charming men and the food their mom’s make, but he never put himself out there. He wasn’t really enthused on the idea of like… going out, and trying to go on dates and meet people, so the best he managed usually was vaguely thinking about maybe talking to some guy, only to talk himself out of it and have a staring match with the empty seat across from him.
It was pretty much just them, now was a great time, but there had been a bunch of great times. And there would probably be a couple more before he just accepted that this wasn’t his greatest strategy and he just asked him out. Which he liked to believe he might really do at some point.
He was pretty deep in thought as he approached the end of his cup, so when Nino spoke very suddenly besides him it gave him kind of a scare.
“Here you go, something for you,” he was saying, pausing to raise an eyebrow when Adrien jumped and looked up at him startled. He gave him a look, but just chuckled to himself, setting down a plate and surprising him again by taking the coffee cup from his hands and replacing it gently with a new one so he didn’t burn him. Adrien watched as Nino took his cup for himself, drinking from it casually to finish it off and gesturing to his small offering.
He was still a little confused by the fact that his waiter just stole his coffee so he could drink it, but he looked down and focused on the cute assortment of pastries and fruit that were on the plate. They were positioned hastily to look presentable, one of them a little bit burned but placed in the back to not be as noticeable. They had clearly just been made, and in a hurry, but it still looked wonderful.
“What’s this?” Adrien asked, placing his new hot coffee on the table to he could pick up one of the pastries, smiling at one of the burnt edges.
“It’s a ‘I’m Sorry your Food is Gonna Take A While’ Pastry, very rare. I make them myself, if you couldn’t tell by the fact that they’re a little burned.”
Nino’s laugh was muffled in what used to be Adrien’s coffee, Adrien laughing too as he looked up at him, a bit unprepared for the casual interaction but enjoying it.
“You made these just now? That’s very nice of you, even if you did just steal the last half of my cup.”
“I brought you a new one,” Nino defended himself, smiling again when Adrien laughed. Nino huffed a bit too though, leaning against the booth Adrien was sitting in. “I’m really glad it’s just you in here man, this is not a smooth start to the day. I feel bad about making you wait but at least I know you’re cool about it.” He groaned, rubbing at his eyes beneath his glasses. “I’m so sorry, but whoever closed last night didn’t even count the till and we’re still waiting on our delivery so-,”
“Hey don’t worry about it! Seriously, it’s not a problem at all.” Adrien had to look nearly straight up just to talk to him, his very casual waiter practically leaning over him (not that he minded.) “If it’s easier,” he managed to continue, “I can just eat somewhere else today. I don’t want to-,”
He faltered when Nino’s eyes widened, and suddenly he was standing up straight, frantically waving his free hand.
“Oh no no no! Don’t leave, we’ve got it! I just wanted to apologize. You’re our guy I don’t want you to not get what you always do just because I’m not on top of it today. Plus I gave you apology pastries, you have to stay!”
He gestured to his ‘I’m Sorry’ plate again to emphasis his point, grinning awkwardly when his favorite patron laughed. Adrien was snickering, taking a piece of pastry and enjoying its kind of battered appearance for a moment before eating it. Nino took heart in knowing that his good sense of humor was holding out, and that he was still in the clear for at least a little while more. He really didn’t want to screw him when he was always so patient, so it was his intention to sprint to the back to finish as fast as possible so that he’d actually have something well made to bring him.
Adrien was savoring his food, aware of the fact that Nino was about to leave again and their casual chat was about to end. This was by far the best he had ever done, the two of them talking so comfortably that he was now far from tired. He was charged from the simple contact, his pastries making him feel warm, and a little braver.
He was brimming with that kind of energy a person usually feels right before they start laughing, and he was desperate not to lose it, so as Nino was starting to turn away, he suddenly spoke up again, surprising himself.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Nino paused, looking down at him with his body still half turned away. He must have looked confused, because Adrien immediately started explaining himself.
“There has to be something anybody could do. I’m not a cook or anything but I can unload a truck and clean counters. That would help, right?”
“You- you-…” Nino was stunned, completely caught off guard as Adrien started innocently munching on his apple slices. “You want to- wait no!” Nino blurted out as Adrien stood, looking pleased with himself.
“Doing dishes and stuff isn’t hard, and it would be one thing you and your cousin don’t have to do. It beats just sitting here and doing nothing.” Adrien lifted his plate, munching on his food as Nino started to stammer.
Of course he was adamantly refusing but now that the idea had occurred to him he was completely determined.
“No, no dude you’re like- hey wait!!”
Adrien was already walking away, happily eating his pasties and looking for something to do. Nino ran ahead of him to try and stop him, forced to walk backwards and rambling at top speed.
“No! It’s so cool of you to offer but seriously your patience is already great you don’t have to work I just needed a second to get your food!”
“But I want to,” Adrien pushed, grinning as Nino ran to block the kitchen door, looking flustered as he stood there with his outstretched hands to stop him (one of them still clutching his stolen coffee cup.)
He stopped, not wanting to barge in and stress him out but he wanted him to know that he totally meant it. Judging by his bewildered expression, he was guessing he understood that.
“Dude no you can just relax! We’ve got it we’re all over it! I mean like- thank you! But we’re already keeping you just go sit!”
Adrien stood there for a moment, mulling it over as he took another apple slice. Nino’s eyes were all over his face as he stood guard at the kitchen door, completely unprepared for this guy. He didn’t look terribly appeased with Adrien’s vague hum or smug smile either, his tone completely unconvincing.
“Alright,” he said with a nod, still too happy as he gestured with his plate towards the door. “I don’t want to keep you,” he repeated, “you’ve got a lot of stuff to do.”
Neither of them moved, Nino clearly hesitant to leave now. He looked between Adrien and the kitchen, narrowing his eyes a little.
“… go back to your table.”
“Okay,” Adrien replied, not moving at all.
“Don’t do anything!” Nino stammered again, placing his cup down and edging towards the door but still so torn about leaving. He glanced behind him again, and then past Adrien towards the public entrance and could really feel the time he was losing when he didn’t even have a register open he could sell food with. But then he looked back at that cocky, lame guy who was just standing there happily, waiting for him to leave.
Adrien just nodded, grinning as he gestured at the door again, this time with an apple slice.
Nino hesitated again, before taking one step back, and another as Adrien just waited patiently. He could hear Ahmed working hard inside, feeling the pressure too since they were way behind schedule. His cousin was probably wondering what the hell he was doing but how was he supposed to explain this?
His back was all the way to the door when he just accepted that there was really no winning this, this guy was crazy.
They just had to see who was faster.
Nino bolted through the kitchen door with a crash, scaring the hell out of Ahmed who was passing by with an arm full stuff but he didn’t stop, just skidding across the tile and through the kitchen and around the corner and into the office, ignoring Ahmed’s shouts completely as he ran to count money as fast as he possibly could.
The door was like a gunshot to a race, Adrien completely caught up in his own nerves at the game he created but determined to win. He left his mostly finished plate with a clatter on the counter as he ran like hell to the first task he could think of, running towards the front host stand with the only things he knew for sure. Menus, dishrags, silverware sets and cleaner.
Adrien was cleaning and setting up tables about as fast as Nino could count, the waiter frantically scribbling at the edges of their check in sheet with the cash count and kicking the safe closed. He scrambled to grab the till and sprint back out into the kitchen, ignoring Ahmed again as he ran back towards the main body of the restaurant, but he was forced to skid to a stop when Ahmed angrily shouted at him, “NINO!”
“What?!” he demanded sharply, whipping around to glare at Ahmed who was waving frantically towards the back doors.
“The truck is HERE, listen to me for a second!! I need to start loading in before we get more people.”
“Do whatever but hurry up! Get everything going I’ve got to set up!”
Both of them stiffened when they heard a distant chime, trading a frantic look between each other before turning and running with what they needed to do.
Nino busted through the kitchen door out of breath, about to call out towards the front door his standard good morning as he asked them for their patience, but he didn’t have the chance to.
He stood open mouthed in shock as Adrien cheerily called out, “Good Morning! Is it just the two of you today?” to an older couple who had just walked in. The bastard had two menus in his hands already, beaming as they answered their good mornings too.
Adrien could feel Nino standing there in disbelief with the cash till in his hands, but couldn’t bring himself to doubt in the slightest, he was just having way too much fun as he escorted their new customers to their seats. He had almost half of the tables perfectly clean and sat them in the middle of them so it all looked a bit better than it was at the moment. Nino only just got his wits about him enough to actually start setting up the register as Adrien was taking their drink order, chatting with them personably as he just jotted it down in his phone.
Nino kept looking back and forth from the screen to Adrien, who was now telling some light-hearted joke to the delight of the older woman, who actually cooed some line like “Oh aren’t you sweet?” At a glance it looked like he was even making suggestions, before giving them a little wave and promising them their coffee shortly. It was when Nino successfully clicked the till in that Adrien was nearly back at the counter, scouting around for coffee cups and looking oh so pleased with himself.
Nino was going to try and hiss something at him but could think of nothing to say, Adrien shooting him a smug glance as he busied himself with whatever he felt like, occasionally stopping to munch on his pastries. He whisked himself away before Nino could sputter something out, and eventually he could stall no longer and ran back into the kitchen with a groan.
The kitchen was empty but he could see the evidence of Ahmed’s traffic, hustling to burst out into the street outside, immediately accosted by the morning chill and the odd clean smell of produce mixed with the damp, cool smells of the back alley. The truck was backed up to the loading door of the restaurant, and he caught sight of Ahmed just in time emerging with his hands full to avoid crashing into him, spooking him once again.
“Would you STOP that!” Ahmed finally yelled irritably, teetering dangerously as his younger cousin darted around him and started grabbing anything he could get his hands on, seemingly ignoring him. “Look I can get this you need to go handle the customers; finish set up inside.”
To his surprise Nino just huffed, his voice strained as he picked up two awkwardly sized food crates. “Oh no trust me, someone beat me to it.”
“What does THAT mean?” he attempted but Nino just rattled past him unsteadily, and Ahmed was forced to just pick up the pace so he could double back for Nino’s stuff before the loser dropped it all.
Inside Adrien was still on an adrenaline high, humming happily to himself as he polished off the last of his fruit. He had managed to clean all of the tables and the couple were happily sipping on their coffees, prepared to wait patiently for the order Adrien had only just taken. He had been looking around for something to write it on so he could pass it along to the kitchen when he had happened upon a hook laden with apron’s, so naturally he was wearing one now. Inside one of the pockets had been a misplaced pad of paper, so when Nino finally emerged in a frantic huff he was greeted with a folded slip of paper held between two fingers as Adrien triumphantly finished his coffee.
“Order for ya,” Adrien announced with a smirk, successfully cutting off whatever Nino had been about to say and waggling the paper slightly until he took it. “They only just made up their minds, so you’ve got awhile. The man’s coffee is black but the woman likes 3 creams no sugars.” He smiled, “In case you need to refill them, or I can do it, of course.”
“No!!” Nino finally spoke, so red in the face that Adrien was worried for just a second that he might actually have made him mad… but it only took a moment more for Nino’s flustered expression to become clear as he rubbed at his eyes, a laugh slipping through. And THAT made Adrien feel very brave.
They stood in relative privacy behind the counter together, the lo-fi tune and the general emptiness of the diner leaving them with each other to deal with. Nino sighed and crossed his arms, a smile still on his face even as he said, “You know I never really got that peak ‘bastard’ vibe off of you before but I have to admit it’s impressive.”
Adrien snickered, setting down his empty cup, but after a second’s thought started looking around for a place to clean it. “I have my moments,” he admitted, taking a full step towards the kitchen to find a sink to use before Nino snatched it from his hands, sliding past him to block the door again.
“What kind of pastry am I going to have to make to get you to sit down?”
“I don’t think you can top your apology pastry honestly, so I guess I can stop harassing you and go back to my booth. But then again it is a little weird for a waiter to switch out half-way through.”
Nino rolled his eyes, “I’ll tell them you went on ‘break’, now please give me a chance to make this up to you and go make your food?” He ended it like a question, since compliance was not guaranteed, but to his relief Adrien seemed to be relenting a little, taking his dirty plate with him and still entirely too happy with himself. He was really dragging his feet though, so Nino made a point to wander behind him, making a grab for his apron string which Adrien managed to dodge.
He was trying to assure his favorite waiter that he didn’t owe him anything and that he just wanted to help, but noticed after a moment that Nino was too distracted with huffing and puffing about all the clean tables and refilled salt shakers to listen, shepherding him back to his seat like he wished it had a ball and chain. The glare he got as he was finally forced back to his spot was just too good, and Adrien took his disbelieving sigh as a sign of victory.
“Now I’m going to go and make you your food and you better be sitting right here when I come back and give it to you. AND I’m going to get you another cup of coffee.” He said it almost defiantly, in a ‘and what are you gonna do about it?’ kind of way.
Adrien was going to say something charming or snarky when the door dinged again, and Nino leveled him with another glare when he turned to look. Adrien was forced to sheepishly bow his head, grinning innocently as Nino started taking steps away, walking backwards and watching him for most of the way before he finally turned around and said his standard, “Good Morning!”
Adrien decided to play it safe after that, waiting in his booth patiently but was still bubbly enough to chuckle to himself every now and again. He kept peeking over his shoulder as Nino sat down the new patrons and took their drink orders, checking in with the older couple who had been sat before and politely explaining that the cook was just about done with everything. Normally he could get away with staring, but today he seemed to get caught every single time, Nino always glancing up in his direction as if to check he was where he should be. He’d catch him staring and smile a little, sometimes shaking his head, sometimes looking away, and every time it left Adrien with an odd spike of energy that snaked down his spine and made him chuckle again.
His stupid, showy stunt was ridiculous, looking back on it now that the hype had died down a little. He was self-aware enough to start feeling embarrassed about it, but whenever he started doubting himself or planning how to apologize, he’d think back to the disbelieving laughs or the banter and feel just a little reassured. Maybe he had been a little over-zealous, a little too eager but, for better or for worse
He finally made an impression.
It was a short time later when the door dinged again, but to Adrien’s relief it was to signal help arriving. Another employee he recognized finally showed up to clock in, and it was only then that he really relaxed. He pulled off his cozy little apron and set it aside on the table, taking himself off standby now that Nino had another set of hands on deck. There were only two real customers to be worrying about, since at this point Adrien could honestly never get food and be perfectly content with it. He was relieved to see that he was not the first one served, the older couples’ orders coming through first and was glad to see that Nino had the sense to put him on the backburner regardless, or at least that was what he had assumed. In reality Ahmed must have just been hauling ass, because it was no time later at all that Adrien heard the familiar thunk of a plate being set down beside him.
He had been doodling in his handy dandy waiters notebook so Nino had actually managed to sneak up on him, sliding Adrien’s standard order to rest in front of him with a little more sass then was customary.
Adrien glanced up, determined to get out something witty this time, when suddenly his waiter’s momentum seemed to shift…
And he was moving to take a seat.
Adrien started slightly as Nino slid into the booth opposite him, setting down two empty coffee cups as he did and reaching for a carafe of the stuff he hadn’t noticed at first.
He felt himself going red in the face as Nino nonchalantly poured for them both, saying, “I’m sure you usually never drink this many cups in a sitting but it’s been a weird morning and you need something with your food. Plates hot, by the way.”
“I- uh,” Adrien stammered, looking down at it as an excuse to collect himself as Nino prepped his coffee the way he liked it. He was reeling from Nino’s sudden self-invite to his table, all his bold confidence from before totally evaporated by the sudden real life presence of his stupid, hopeless daydreams. But he couldn’t just say nothing, so he managed, “I’ll have another. And uh, this looks great, thank you.”
There was another apology pastry, he noticed. Tucked right in the corner.
When Adrien finally managed to look up it was Nino who was smirking into his cup this time, living for it as it was Adrien’s turn to look a little caught out. A little bit of payback, just a touch. He didn’t start eating right away either, accepting the offered drink and scoffing a little as Nino stole a strawberry.
“I can’t really stay for too long,” he opened, and despite the fact that obviously that must be the case Adrien couldn’t help feeling disappointed. “But I wanted to take a sec to come over. I’m taking a five.”
Adrien was going to say something like ‘don’t waste your break on my account’ but couldn’t bring himself to and hesitated at the last second. Even if it was mostly placating, he didn’t want to risk him getting up and leaving. Nino took the silence and continued, leveling him with a glare he knew now to be playful.
“You bum rushing my counter was totally ludicrous. Like, I was literally just telling Ahmed about it in the back and he couldn’t believe it. He was laughing his ass off.” When Adrien started laughing he just shook his head, eating his strawberry and taking a second one. Adrien didn’t seem to mind. “Like what’s even the plan for that, I had no idea what to do so I was just like, well fuck it I guess?? I’ll count the tills.”
Adrien was laughing even harder, the other employee now taking care of tables craning their head to look at them but neither of them caring. They were both laughing after a minute, and Adrien fought through it to say, “Your face was so funny, I couldn’t help myself. It was awesome.”
“It was ridiculous but whatever,” Nino rolled his eyes, smiling too big to hide it with his cup, though he still kind of tried. “I can’t stop thinking like I owe you dude like I was freaking out about it but you actually really did help. And you waited so long for your food and you were so cool about it the whole time-,”
“You don’t owe me anything Nino, I’m serious. I was having fun.”
“No I do, I definitely do. I owe you breakfast,” Nino said matter-of-factly, but shook his head again when Adrien gestured at his plate with an eyebrow raised. “No, not that one, that one was late. And not here either like, somewhere else. Some other time.” He hesitated, and for the first time since sitting he looked a little bit nervous. “Like maybe Friday, actually. If you were free.” He paused. “Friday morning,” he clarified kind of needlessly, looking away. He glanced up once at Adrien’s stunned silence and started rambling again. “Cause uh, I’m off on Friday, and I actually have time and you are usually in here on Fridays so like, if you were free-,”
“I’d love to!” Adrien suddenly interrupted, his voice a bit rushed sounding as he surprised them both, now stammering a little himself. “Uh, I mean, yes! I’m free, on Friday. Where-…” Adrien kind of trailed off, his pulse electric as he desperately tried to keep his cool.
It was happening.
“Well um, I actually haven’t picked a place yet. I was thinking that maybe, if you didn’t mind I could just like…. text you, later. With the restaurant.”
Adrien only noticed that Nino was fidgeting with his notepad with his free hand when he put his coffee down to wrestle it out of the apron pocket, putting it on the tabletop a little bashfully and was surprised to see that Adrien had already beaten him to the pen (probably from his own apron), pulling the paper over to his side and ignoring his breakfast entirely. Nino sat there balling his apron up in his hands as Adrien quickly jotted down his phone number, sliding it back to him with an energetic smile that he returned.
Like okay maybe he had thought about doing this like a hundred times but he couldn’t believe he was actually doing it. When the hell had he grown a pair? This handsome guy had been a regular here for ages and he never actually managed to do something about it, but he could practically sense Ahmed creeping on him through the window in the kitchen door. He had already been thinking it, but it was Ahmed’s indignant encouragement that actually got him out there.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Adrien finally answered, sounding so totally earnest that Nino had no idea what to do with it, laughing with nervous excitement.
“Yeah, me too. Let someone else deal with the morning rush for once, huh?”
With that Nino got up, holding his coffee cup in his hand and smoothing his apron as he stood, and, after a moments thought, leaned over to grab Adrien’s from the table (which he allowed without protest). He wanted to stay and get another laugh or poke fun at him or anything really, but he was so wired at this point that he just knew he was gonna fuck it up, so he did the safe thing and bailed. He traded a little wave with Adrien as he darted off to fill in Ahmed who was probably waiting to ambush him anyways, honestly a little childishly excited to share cause… he said yes. And when he risked a glance back as he fled he saw the man drop his head in his hands for a second, before he looked up again and beamed out the window. He looked so amped, Nino couldn’t stop thinking that maybe… he had been hoping? Hoping for Nino to ask him out? Had he been waiting for it? Was that why he jumped up to help had they both been-
When he crashed into the kitchen door without looking his coffee splashed against his chest, and he stumbled through it, the hot liquid catching mostly on the apron but burning his arms a little and drawing EVERYONES attention in the ridiculously quiet restaurant. He bolted through it and shut the door behind him, recoiling in on himself as he swore he heard him laughing.
The only thing Adrien heard back from it was a text two minutes later from an unknown number that simply said, “Shut up you didn’t see that.”
He quickly saved the contact and rushed to reply, “Lol yeah, I didn’t see anything.”
Okay holy crud, I capped it at just below 16k. I was GOING to do everything all at once but decided against it, so believe it or not this is actually cut in half. I hope its okay, I had to do a lot of work shopping but hopefully it hits the right notes. Let me know what you think!
“Okay, everything seems to be in order then. Please remember what I’ve asked, you and your friends are welcome to the campus but please don’t go causing any trouble. Remember that this is still a school, alright?”
Ms. Bustier folded her arms in an attempt to be serious but she couldn’t help the smile on her face, her tone far from scathing. She just couldn’t manage it as she looked down on her newest and most in-need student, practically glowing with relief to see him standing readily out in the open with his tail thumping steadily on the tile. Even as she spoke he scrabbled a little in place impatiently, something almost like a wolfish smile on his face as she looked over the last of what she had brought him.
A positively derelict television was left in the corner on an equally as dated cart that still moved easily enough. She was mostly unfamiliar with human technology but had used and experimented with some of their simpler contraptions out of curiosity before. She had a great long-standing appreciation for the complexity of human story-telling and their recorded programs were among her favorites, even if she always did struggle to get them working. She was hoping Marinette would be able to live up to her promise to oversee all the more intricate needs of their proposed ‘movie night’, trusting her to see to it that it all went smoothly.
She was glad the empathic witch was not there in a moment to detect the slight worry that rattled through her, knowing that the children would be alone for the night.
Really there was no threat… the moon was ages away and the children were all capable of critical thinking and self-defense, not that any of them would need it of course but…
She shook her head a little, attempting to rid herself of her anxieties and just be happy for them all that they were boldly making progress in the earnest, open way that children do. If any of the other teachers found out that she had allowed this… she wasn’t sure what would happen. She had refused to admit to the children at the time that no one else would have ever let this happen, siteing a thousand ways it could go poorly and how the school would be held liable for anything that took place.
In truth… Ms. Bustier had broken perhaps a dozen very serious regulations in the way that she cared for Nino. If her superiors discovered even a single thread of what she had waved or overlooked then she wasn’t sure Mr. Damocles could or would protect her in the slightest. Perhaps he’d sympathize with her decisions, surely no one would morally disagree, but that didn’t mean that it was sanctioned or supported. If her peers were simply turning a blind eye then she was grateful, but she had urged the students not to advertise their intentions regardless.
She would take all responsibility, in the event of an incident.
The cervitaur took a deep breath as she quickly overlooked the extra mats and blankets taken from the abandoned nurses office on site. They were far from perfect, but hopefully no one would mind too much.
When she was satisfied she looked back to Nino to see him nod, standing and crossing over to her to nudge her foreleg gently in a gesture she was sure meant ‘thank you’. She leaned down to press the weight of her hand on the space between his ears as an approximation of the gesture in return, glad to see his eyes close in contentment instead of seeming uncomfortable with it like he might have been a week ago. He really was coming so far… and her decision to allow the sleepover in hopes that it would help him seemed suddenly all the stronger.
She knew she was doing the right thing here.
“If that’s everything you need from me I should probably be leaving then, don’t want to ‘cramp your style’ or anything like that,” she giggled a little at herself, laughing again as Carter reappeared from his scouting mission out in the hallway and demanded her affection before she left. The wolf rolled his eyes, but whether it was at what she had said or Carter’s eager dance on his hind legs she wasn’t sure. “Remember,” she reiterated, “don’t leave campus, don’t make a mess, and don’t be too loud. You’re all pretty far from the other live-in students but if you all decide to wander around then I don’t want a noise complaint, it would leave me with a lot of explaining to do. Oh and if there’s an emergency-,”
Despite the wolf’s uncharacteristic good mood Nino finally groaned, sighing as audibly as possible and interrupting her.
“Okay okay fine I get it, I’ll leave you to it, but please remember to reach out to me if you need me. I taught you how remember? The others can do it for you too.”
Nino groaned again, nodding moodily… but he didn’t fool her. Despite his increasing range of comfort with his new form he still hadn’t gotten the hang of controlling when his tail was wagging, always managing to give himself away.
Madame Bustier took a moment, and smiled. She nodded once and said, “Alright then, I hope you have fun Nino I really do. I know it will be great, I hope to hear all about it on Monday so please enjoy your weekend, alright?”
He barked at that and jumped forward, nudging Carter out of the way and sending him skittering backwards a little so he could lean his full weight into her legs. His weight and strength forced her to shift her footing but she knew to interpret this as both a friendly gesture and as a goodbye, until next time. She returned it as best as she could and said her final goodbye, holding her hope in her heart as she went.
Nino watched Ms. B as she left, relishing in the surge of gratefulness he always felt in her presence and prayed that he had been able to communicate how much he appreciated her while also having a little bit of a back and forth. He still hadn’t gotten to a place where he could communicate in this form the way Alya did, but regardless he was still leagues better at expressing himself then he had been a week ago. The animalistic body language and motions were still stiff and awkward but… it was coming more naturally to him by this point. It wasn’t so repulsive to indulge at least, and it made him more easily understood.
Friday had come again and it found Nino in a much better place then the last one had. He wasn’t… perfect. He honestly wouldn’t even go so far as to say good but… it was Friday. The only real major change his mood had undergone was the fact that he was looking forward to something, which was a new development in his numb, ambling routine. Poor Carter was going mad from sheer boredom and lack of exercise, but as always he was faultlessly patient. Well mostly faultless, he did complain a little but it wasn’t something he blamed Nino for, he genuinely considered the circumstances and Nino’s condition to be completely unrelated things.
But Nino was going to make it up to him, tonight. He had made up his mind as soon as his friends had started to make plans, Adrien having been eager to run back to him after school on Wednesday to tell him that their ideas had been approved. Nino knew that they probably wouldn’t mind playing with Carter if he asked them too, and that maybe this sleepover could be something for Carter to look forward to as well, not that the Shepherd needed any prompting. Even after Ms. B had left Carter was energetically pacing the room, zipping back and forth to sniff all the new cushions.
‘Gross!’ he proclaimed, sneezing at one of the bigger ones but sounding pretty happy about it for whatever reason, just glad for some new stimuli maybe. Nino felt a wave of guilt at that, but shook it off, trotting over himself to investigate a little.
‘Yikes, these do smell really bad… I hope they won’t be able to tell. Is there anything we can do to make it better you think?’
‘We can do this,’ Carter stated, climbing onto it and getting nice and settled before leaning down to start rubbing his face all over it.
He was already on his back rolling around on the sterile, chemical smelling cushion before Nino could say anything, the wolf barking out a laugh as he charged forward to push Carter off of it.
‘Dog smell is not a better smell!’ he growled playfully, laughing again as Carter wiggled out from underneath him to finish what he started. Nino shoved him off at least twice more before giving up, shaking his head as Carter got good and committed to rubbing dog hair over literally everything. ‘Ah yes… thank you Carter.’
‘I’m here to help.’
‘Thanks buddy.’
‘Is the cat coming? Where will he sit?’
Nino paused, looking down his muzzle to glare slightly at the mischievous looking dog, perched readily above the largest of the cushions.
‘…I don’t know what you’re gonna do with that information, so I’m not going to give it to you.’
‘I’ll wait then.’
Nino gave him a solid warning glare but his dog seemed unperturbed, tail wagging happily as he jumped from spot to spot trying to pick his favorite. After a moment Nino huffed, sitting in place and hoping that Adrien would have a good sense of humor about whatever antics Carter might indulge in over the course of the night.
School had ended about three hours ago, the massive crowd of weird and wicked leaving to wherever it is they all went when the bell dismissed them. Nino had gotten used to passing the time by sticking his head out in the gap in the door, listening to the school as it swelled and bowed and quieted, until he was seemingly alone again with his dog. This time however he was listening for something slightly different, hoping to pick out the footsteps of his friends before too much more time passed away.
Adrien was the only one who had stopped by briefly before running home, checking in to let him know that everyone would be back in a few hours after they picked up some things. They couldn’t bring all their stuff to school without people asking a lot of questions, so for his sake they decided to be subtle about the whole thing. Still though he had hoped that Marinette might arrive first, since she apparently lived very nearby. He wasn’t sure what they would do on their own but… he would try and encourage her to talk so he could listen, as was usually his method when Adrien came by himself. For the thousandth time since Wednesday it occurred to him again that he really wasn’t sure how this was going to go, knowing he was going to be slightly on the outside just because he couldn’t speak as easily as they could. Still though… if they had fun and he was allowed to sit and listen then that would be nice too.
He sank into himself a little as he continued to reflect, and he settled down to wait. He had been fending off his nerves all day and was genuinely really trying to just be excited and not worry about anything at all. What was the worst that would happen? He had spent enough time in this form to know that he wasn’t going to lash out at anyone and hurt them, not unless something entirely new overcame him. And if that were to happen, what could he possibly do regardless? No… it was comforting to him that the idea seemed paranoid, even considering the circumstance. No, it was much more likely that a dark mood would overtake him rather than anything else, and his friends had taken great pains to assure him that if that were to happen that he had every permission in the world to excuse himself. No one was expecting miracles or leaps and bounds. No one was trying to fix something that couldn’t be fixed. They just wanted to spend time getting to know him as best as they could… and he wanted to give them something to know. Something other than this…
Something to know him by. That was all.
He sighed deeply, pushing out the huge huff of air and using it as a physical que to get over himself. He promised he wasn’t going to ruin it, so he needed to keep it together.
He jumped a little when Carter unexpectedly slumped down next to him, the Shepard rolling into his side and sighing a little as well if only because it seemed like the thing they were doing right now. Carter rolled his eyes up to look at him to check that yes indeed this is what we’re doing right now, just to make sure, and the action made Nino chuckle a little despite his swelling of nerves.
‘How are we doing?’ Carter asked him gently, rolling his head a little to make eye contact a bit easier and looking pretty adorable in the process.
‘I’m a bit nervous for my new friends to come over,’ Nino admitted after a while, deciding to be honest. ‘I’m not sure how it’s going to go…’
‘It’s okay! I’m here. And the fox and the girl and the cat will be here soon. Does that make you nervous?’
Nino considered the question, not sure how to phrase it in a way that Carter would understand and still trying to keep an ear out for their approach. It wouldn’t be too long now.
‘I just…,’ Nino laid his head down on the ground. ‘I want them to like me. I want them to know me a little better and I don’t know how to do that.’
‘I can help! I know a lot of things about you, the things that matter. I can tell them, if you want. But I think they already know.’
Nino paused, rolling his own head to the side to look at Carter after a moment. He felt that familiar fondness for his dog creeping up on him again and he couldn’t help it as his tail wagged just a little.
‘Oh yeah? What kinds of things.’
‘The important things. You like the rain and staying up late, and food that makes me sneeze. You don’t like it when I get your bed wet but you never get too mad even if you pretend to be. You’re good and kind and lonely, and you let me help even if I don’t know how. You try really hard. And you’re very brave.’
Carter’s own tail was thumping as he looked at his boy, muzzle parted in a happy grin while relaying his list. He had many more things he could think of, but he was trying to think of the most important ones that his new friends might need to know if they didn’t already.
The wolf was staring at him in shock, something undeniably soft present in his eyes.
‘You laugh a lot! And you’re laughing more, again. You take care of me even when you don’t feel well and you try and make other people happy even when you’re not very happy-,’
‘Carter…’
‘You share your food and keep me safe, you like cats which is fine. You like me more, which is good-‘
‘Carter, stop. I can’t handle it when you do this.’
The dog made to speak again but Nino elected instead to roll on top of him, squishing him down in a desperate attempt to get him to stop. Carter yipped in surprised and started trying to wiggle his way out but Nino effortlessly prevented it, looking down at him and quickly stooping his head to nudge him gently. He took the time to say what he should always say more.
‘I love you. You know that right?’
Carter paused instantly in his struggle, seeming to consider the question for a moment from his position at the bottom of the dog pile.
‘… of course I know that!’ The Shepherd barked and leapt back into his struggle with earnest, seemingly outraged at the suggestion that he didn’t and Nino pretended to be thrown by it, when in reality the canine didn’t stand a chance against him. Nino allowed himself to be pinned instead by an indignant Carter, who stood over him to say. ‘I love you! You know that right?’
‘Of course I know buddy. I know.’
‘I love you!’ he reiterated, just to be sure. ‘So don’t be nervous, alright? I know you and I love you. And they’ll know you and they’ll love you too. And maybe you’ll get to know them too. Or maybe not. It’s just one night, they’ll come back for lunch and you can try then too.’
Nino let out a breath he had been holding, focusing on what his dog was saying and letting it fill him with warmth, nodding his head awkwardly after a moment in an attempt to curb his unease. Carter was right, he was usually at least sort of right… it was just one night. He couldn’t put the weight of the world on one night in, he had more time… so long as they kept coming by and he kept up the strength to go and meet them.
That was something that kept popping up, something in his darkest moments he had distantly been resigned to never feeling again.
Just a vague kind of assurance that there was some sort of future out there. Something even small to look forward to. Like lunch or friends, or school. It was okay to feel scared and hopeless now… maybe it would be better soon.
He just had to keep moving forward to find out.
Carter looked like he was going to keep on with his list of important things given the opportunity when he abruptly became aware of Nino’s distraction, the wolf angling towards the door and growing still in a way that Carter knew to copy as soon as he saw it.
Sure enough, his boy had heard something he hadn’t right away.
‘I think that’s them, off boy!’ Nino said in a hurry, shooing Carter off of him and scrambling to his feet. Nino gave himself a quick and nervous shake, trying to dislodge some of the dust from his fur. He fussed for a second, trying to sort out how many of them there were and focusing on the sound.
It was easiest to sort out their voices, still indistinct and far away but they all had different tones. Adrien was the easiest to separate quickly, and Marinette’s high bouncing words second. Alya didn’t seem to be speaking much in that exact second, but the moment she spoke up at all her more alto oriented range was clear to him, directly in the middle.
He couldn’t help that his tail was wagging, his anxious discomfort surprisingly not enough to quell his eagerness, in the moment. His room was unpleasant and the cushions were… kind of a mess and sure it was about as dusty and crappy as always in here but… his tail slowed, just a little, embarrassment taking its place in his mind. As they got closer the feeling grew, and he hung his head a little as he absorbed his poor attempt at having tried to be ready for them. But after a moment he shook his head again, letting the shake spread through his whole body once more and stood firmly on his paws, forcing himself to hold his head high.
He was going to have a sleepover. He was going to watch a movie with his friends and he was going to have fun doing it, and nobody not even himself was going to ruin it. He let his natural born stubbornness burn in his chest and stood with as much power as he could muster, facing the door and prepared for it. And although Carter would never say it to him for fear that it might upset him somehow, in that moment Nino looked very much like a wolf.
And his dog was very proud of the boy he knew was inside.
Nino and Carter waited together in the middle of the room as their friends finally arrived, the trio still chatting amongst themselves as Adrien knocked on the door politely, calling out ahead.
“Nino! It’s us, we’re gonna come in okay?”
Adrien waited a beat for a deep bark to answer, and when it did he stepped inside with the biggest smile he could offer, barely managing to hold on to all the stuff he had in his arms.
Nino perked up in instant curiosity, looking away for a moment as Alya came in second bearing a box full of something (food, he imagined, based on the smell) and Marinette came in third, seemingly holding nothing.
Marinette actually had less on her than she normally would have, her bag she used for school presumably left at home and only a very small clutch bag hanging on her side. Despite its miniscule size however, she seemed to be struggling with it, flashing Nino a somewhat strained yet warm smile as she hefted it onto one of their dragged out desks they often sat in. The thunk it made on the desktop seemed ridiculously out of place, and it took Adrien running up to him to finally distract him from the oddity.
“Hey man! Sorry we took so long, I was the one who was taking forever and then Marinette and Alya were waiting for me cause I said I’d be right there and- uh, sorry,” Adrien cut off his rambling awkwardly, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly as if he really had something to apologize for. Adrien knelt down next to him to be more on his level, laying a hand on Nino’s back as he said it and starting in surprise when the massive animal leaned into him, abruptly turning the motion into a hug of sorts. Adrien was shocked by the sudden affection, but rushed to reciprocate as quickly as he could, a laugh slipping out as he wrapped his arms around the creature and ruffled the fur slightly, reassured by the wolf’s wagging tail.
Adrien figured he could safely take that as an apology accepted, and he was beaming when he stood up again.
“I brought a bunch of blankets from home and some stuff for myself, and also a few other things I thought you might think are cool!” he continued brightly, gesturing to the big ball of stuff he had dropped unceremoniously off to the side, too eager to greet his friend to find a proper place for it just yet. Nino started to head over towards it to investigate, but suddenly remembered his manners and turned back to face his other friends.
Alya was standing near her preferred lunch desk with her box of assorted things left discarded on its tabletop, the kitsune too distracted by Carter’s energetic greeting to unpack it. The Shepherd was bouncing around Marinette’s legs, woofing at her happily as she stooped down to return his enthusiasm. Even as she did though she looked over Carter’s shoulder and made eye contact with Nino, laughing as she battled the dog just to say “Hello Nino! Sorry we’re- oh Carter PLEASE- sorry we’re a little behind! It took me forever to pack up everything I wanted to bring.”
“Girl seriously you’ve practically got a whole building in there,” Alya spoke up. “I TOLD you you didn’t need all that! You could literally just go home for anything you forgot anyways!”
“I had a lot I wanted to bring!” Marinette defended herself, about to say something more before Carter knocked her off balance, sending her sprawling on her back in a fit of giggles.
Alya burst into laughter at that but tried to smother her budding laughter, chuckling as she turned at gave Nino a friendly wave. “Hey Nino, I was on time, for the record, I was just trying to get this menagerie moving.”
In one motion she put her hands on the desk in front of her and seemed to sort of leap, forcing herself up and shifting forms as she did it. Her hands shifted instantly into paws and she was suddenly a fox vaulting clear over the box and the desk and landing agilely in front of him, her two tails swishing out behind her and swaying in greeting.
He reacted this this naturally and lowered his head to her level, tail wagging happily as she sauntered up to him, unafraid of their difference in size. She prodded him once with her angled snout and headbutted his chin and he reciprocated as best as he could without squishing her, the actions making him happy in that weird, unfamiliar way that some things did.
He first felt it when Ms. B had found him in the alleyway, the teacher able to use her body language to get something across to him that he might not have understood normally. And he felt it again, much more potently in Mr. Damocles’ office when he mimicked Nino’s instinctual bow of respect. Every once in a while, there was just a movement or a gesture that appealed directly to this other part of him and though at first it brought him a lot of discomfort Alya had been carefully working with him throughout the week to not mind those things so much. She triggered those odd animalistic responses all the time from him, and he was slowly starting to get used to it.
‘Hi Alya,’ he said finally, though it wasn’t needed. ‘Thanks for coming, sorry the rooms sort of-,’
‘Your rooms fine,’ Alya quickly interrupted him, opening her muzzle in that big foxy grin. ‘It’s gonna be something else by the time Marinette’s through with it, seriously you’ve got no idea how much stuff she’s got in her bag.’
Nino paused, titling his head before looking up at the clutch that had confused him before. ‘Does she have a different bag? Or just that one? Cause uh, that one’s tiny. And heavy I guess.’
He looked down when the fox visibly brightened, the creature running off towards Marinette and laughing out loud. Before Nino could ask Marinette was suddenly struggling to her feet, passing Carter off to the kitsune that came to say hi.
She ran her hands over her dress in an attempt to straighten it out a little as she laughed, putting a hand out towards Nino who gladly came towards her. When he did she placed her hand flat on his head and looked him in the eye, patting her bag with her free hand as she smiled.
“Okay! We’re all here finally so first things first! This is gonna take the most work so I wanted to start right away, if that’s okay with you Nino.” She beamed at him sweetly and he swore you could just feel the kindness that radiated off of her sometimes. She only looked away to open her bag, reaching into it as she continued to talk and ignoring the fact that Nino was openly gaping at her as she did.
Marinette was still leaning into it as she talked excitedly about her ideas, her entire arm lost inside this completely tiny completely ordinary looking bag, and Nino was suddenly reminded that oh yeah. This girl was a witch. He only just remembered.
“So! I know how much you hate your room and how it’s not the most accommodating place ever. It’s fine really, but it can be better and much more comfortable I bet! So I asked my mom about it and she was saying that the first thing to do was to get to cleaning it and then start working with the space! Soooo- oh where is it- ah yes!”
She seemed to struggle with something for a second before getting a grip on whatever it was inside, holding the brim of the bag with one hand as she pulled out the very beginnings of what looked like a long wooden stick.
Nino scrambled backwards and watched in awe (very aware of the fact that Alya was openly laughing at him) as Marinette pulled out an entire broom from her clutch bag, leaning it against the seat and immediately reaching back in for something else, producing what looked like a purple velvet bag and then finally a little duster, attached with its own little purple velvet bag.
Aside from the glamours he had seen and the enchantments around the school, this was the first example of actual magic he had seen up close. Like not the spooky supernatural kind with monsters and beasts, just the sort of…
Mary Poppin’s kind.
Marinette held up her items triumphantly, grinning at him and acknowledging full well that she was showing him something he’d never seen before. She was just hoping she was erring on the side of ‘cool’ as opposed to ‘scary’. So far the wolf’s shocked expression seemed to be favoring the former.
She held the broom out to him so he could see it, letting him investigate it thoroughly and giggling a little when he sneezed. Sometimes enchantments could do that to people, the misplaced static is exuded sometimes tickling the nose. Or maybe it was the fact that it probably had a lot of dust on it, that too.
“This is my moms!” Marinette explained, clipping her bag shut with one hand until she would need it again. “The cleaning stuff that is, the bag is actually mine. I made it myself and then wove in all the enchantments over the summer, it’s one of the most useful kind of bags a witch can have. It’s called a ‘Bottomless Bag’. I’m sure you can guess what it does,” she giggled, enjoying Nino’s slow rise in interest and excitement and the radiating humor and energy that was present all throughout the room. She could sense Nino’s slight caution too however and thought it would be best to explain.
“You see, my family lives in a bakery and it can get really messy all the time in there, flour settles on everything like you wouldn’t believe, especially if you’re as big handed about it as my father is. And my mom’s workshop can get really out of sorts too. The bakery part of our house is just actually a bakery if you can believe it, I mean my mom puts a little enchantment on the bread sometimes just to be nice but… don’t tell anyone though, that’s actually against the rules, even if it’s usually just good luck charms and other nice things.” She paused for a second, her face screwing up as she attempted to regain her train of thought. “Oh! But my mom has a workshop too where she makes charms and magic objects and repairs stuff for other people, and that gets so torn up when she’s really busy. So, ages ago my mom made this broom to clean around the house for us and she’s letting me borrow it for now so long as I bring it back. And she lent me the duster too for the little spots, I charged them both before I came.”
“That’s great Marinette!” Adrien exclaimed, crossing over to the desk to examine them curiously. He turned the duster over in his hands before seeming to realize something, putting it down quickly and backing away. “Oops, uh I’ll let you do that one.” And Marinette giggled a little.
Nino was sitting now, looking between the two in confusion when Alya leapt to his side (followed by a panting Carter), helpfully explained ‘Adrien’s got a feather allergy. Combine that with dust and he’d probably be miserable before too long.’
‘Wait so, are they seriously just going to clean the room themselves? Like, the objects? They just magically move around and clean it all up?’
“Yeah you got it,” Alya answered out loud now, attempting to keep everyone involved. “Witches can enchant all kinds of things, this is just one of those household spells that magic users have to make their lives easier. Some assembly required, but no labor needed. Pretty handy.”
‘That’s so cool!’ Nino barked, bouncing up on his paws to stand against the desk, sniffing at her bag curiously. ‘Tell her I think that’s really cool. What else does she have in here?’
“Nino says that that’s awesome,” Alya relayed, smiling at his eagerness and glad to see that he was in a good mood so far. “He also wants to know what else is in the bag.”
“Oh gosh everything,” Marinette said, sounding a little exasperated with herself, which made everyone laugh. “I was trying to think about stuff that you might need so I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff my mom gave me, stuff to help clean the room and decorate it a little, stuff for Carter, a DVD player, like 40 DVDs.”
The wolf grew still for a second, his large ears swiveling up at her voice and were eventually followed by his eyes, looking at her as if he hadn’t quite heard her right. Then after a moment, his ears swiveled back on his head and she could feel an abrupt flood of emotion. Guilt, gratitude, shock, embarrassment. Something warm and hard to name, something cold and hard to beat.
A whine slipped out as he looked between her and the bag, and Marinette didn’t wait for Alya to translate, already shaking her head.
“Nino I want to give you these things. They’re old and my family doesn’t need them anymore, my mother set all these things aside so we could give them to you, they want to help. I told them how barren your room was and it was everything I could do to keep my parents from charging over here themselves. Trust me it’s nothing grand really but, I hope they’ll be useful to you.”
“I brought you some things too! I’m not sure that you’ll like them or need them for anything but I wanted to share some of what I had.” Adrien walked back towards his things and pulled out a large woven bag that was of a style that Nino couldn’t say he had ever seen before. From it though he pulled out a handful of normal looking clothes for Nino to see, smiling at him softly. He packed them away and also patted the side of the bag, taping something solid and metal sounding. “I also have some uh, Never Never things, if you’d like to see them at some point. I think you’ll like them but I’d understand if you didn’t.”
“I didn’t have much to bring I’m sorry,” Alya said genuinely, gesturing with her head at the food she brought. “Kitsunes don’t really own a lot of physical things, so I brought some food.”
‘No one had to bring anything!’ Nino interjected, Carter tense and on alert now at the sound of Nino’s distress. But… it wasn’t quite angry. No, there was still something stunned about it that told Carter that perhaps this wasn’t a bad thing. ‘I- I appreciate it so much but please, I have no way to pay any of you back. I’ve got nothing to give I just-,’
“It’s not a loan that needs repaying Nino,” Alya answered immediately, her voice soft but gaze unyielding in that intense way of hers. “There is nothing to pay back. You don’t pay people back for gifts.”
Adrien nodded quickly in agreement, seeming very firm on this but still smiling gently. “You don’t owe us anything Nino I promise, we just want to help.”
There was a sudden and great silence that fell over them then. Adrien and Marinette looked nervously to Alya but she had nothing to translate, the fox waiting in as much suspense as anyone else as the wolf fell silent.
Nino fell back onto all fours and took an uncertain step backwards towards his bed… and everyone waited. Waited to see if he would retreat, or argue, or anything at all. Marinette reached out into the web of emotions that colored her life and tried to make sense of what she saw there, and it was so confusing.
The boy was overwhelmed, emoting through the body of a wolf whose head hung low not in anger but in deep thought. He shifted on uncertain paws and inside himself he was grappling with a concept that confused him. How kindness for the sake of kindness could have any place here. In this borrowed, mismatched room.
Eventually, the animal seemed the sway, a deep sound getting lost in its chest as it cast about for a moment as if it were lost. Marinette looked at Alya in the corner of her eye, hoping for something to go off of but the foxes head was tilted, struggling herself to grasp what he must be saying.
Nino looked a little helplessly between Alya and Marinette, a whine escaping him again as Alya fretted a little in place.
“I- just slow down a little that didn’t… I don’t quite understand.” Alya suddenly sounded in the silence, apologetic as she tried to focus.
Abruptly though Nino huffed in frustration, casting around a little bit more for help before dropping to all fours. Marinette gasped when he pushed his weight gently against her, bumping her legs with his head and whining again. It prompted her to quickly stoop down and hold him almost sheerly out of instinct, the creature pushing against her in a desperate bid to communicate.
“It’s okay,” Marinette suddenly assured him, her heart aching with sympathy as she boldly wrapped her arms into the thick fur around his neck. It was so warm and dense, Nino pushing his head into the space of her neck to be as close to her as he could manage. “I think I understand… It’s okay.”
“I- um, Marinette,” Alya interjected, padding quietly alongside and firmly fixed on reading whatever Nino must be saying. “He wants you to try and feel what he’s feeling. He knows you can do that, he just, wants you to focus on it. He doesn’t know how to say it.”
Marinette stiffened a little at that, mentally preparing herself for it. After a moment she nodded into his fur, growing still as she allowed herself to fall into that web that no one else could see.
It was nearly physical, condensed into the space the animal occupied and having a kind of color to it when she closed her eyes. It was green and dark, inky blue, pearls of moonlight white trapped beneath dark spreading fingers. She found the things that she had seen before, that something cold and hard to beat… and something warm that had no name.
It was the color of gold.
Nino could feel it as Marinette leaned into him, doing as he asked as he did everything he could to pour what he was feeling into his mind. He didn’t know how to say it, or if there were even words for it. And he knew too that this must be so overwhelming for her, but that’s how it was for him. He thought about the forest and finding Carter. He thought about the alleyway and that day at lunch, where a monster flinched and he lost his grip. He knew that maybe it was too much, but he needed to show her that so he could show her this.
So he could show her how much better she was making it, how much better they were all making this.
He held on to that warm, impossibly grateful feeling and let it overstep any shame or weakness. He just leaned into her… and did what he could to say thank you.
When he pulled away Marinette had a hand to her mouth, and she nodded once. He felt guilty that she looked like she was going to cry, but when she dropped her hand she was smiling.
Nino was partially worried that he had shared too much… but sometimes it felt like there were only extremes these days. Maybe that’s why he had been so excited about a normal movie night, but here he was making everything heavy again…
He just wanted to be understood.
Marinette seemed to get that, on some level at least. She looked around a little embarrassed, trying to collect herself but still absently holding onto him with one hand.
“Oh, Nino…” she finally spoke, laughing a bit though it sounded breathless. She smiled, her entire expression soft. “You’re welcome.”
His tail wagged even if his ears drooped, looking a little exhausted by the effort. For a time it seemed like no one knew what to do, the emotional moment slipping slowly into awkwardness, before abruptly and a little bit clumsily Marinette stood up, laughing weirdly and fumbling for her broom.
“Well, I um, I didn’t bring these gifts for nothing! It’s probably going to take them awhile to do their job so I should probably set them going. There’s a lot of dust to, uh… dust!”
“Yeah, for sure!” Adrien chimed in for the first time in seemingly ages, smiling in a picture-perfect way in an attempt to deflect the weirdness in the room. “Uh, I bet you’ve never seen anything like this before Nino, it’s really cool!”
The wolf was still a little wilted in on himself, his tail thumping slowly but lacking energy. Marinette and Adrien traded a quick glance, coming towards each other in mutual understanding. Despite her best efforts to do so in the past, Marinette could not completely disregard the fact that her and Adrien did tend to make a good team, when it counted. They weren’t as flawless as he claimed and there was a lot that got in the way but… that was a story for another time.
In this moment though, they didn’t need to say it to know that they needed to work together. For Nino’s sake.
Nino was somewhat jarringly thrown into an in-depth magic lesson, a combination of equal parts awkwardness and good intentions leading to a slightly ungraceful effort to change the subject. It was weird, and sudden, and clumsy… but it was earnest.
Marinette was still a little thrown off from the encounter so Adrien took over at first, explaining briefly how magic things like brooms got made. He appeared to be pretty knowledgeable on the subject, but Nino was not retaining much of anything, and that didn’t seem to be the point of it. He gratefully took the cover it offered him, using the lecture as an opportunity to get his act together.
He hadn’t meant to make everything so serious. He just got so frustrated. It was horrible, not being able to say what he was thinking, not like he was ever particularly good at that even when he could talk. Still though, he didn’t even have the chance to get it wrong, and it had gotten the best of him.
At the thought he briefly glanced behind him, looking for Alya who was laying on the ground a short distance away with Carter. The two of them were waiting, Alya allowing the conversation to move on without her and Carter nervously keeping an eye on his boy, a little lost but trying not to intrude.
Nino waited to try and catch Alya’s eyes, but she didn’t look at him in time and Nino was forced to turn back around in order to be polite, Adrien still explaining something. He didn’t want too much time to pass before he had the chance to apologize for getting frustrated with her, it hadn’t been her fault that he couldn’t get it out. She was doing something great for him, it wasn’t fair to only use her as a vehicle to talk to the others.
“-it might be easier just to show you!” Marinette said pointedly all of a sudden, Nino snapping to attention with a little anxiety, afraid he had been asked a question when he hadn’t been listening. Luckily though that didn’t seem to be it, Marinette taking her broom and holding it out in front of her.
“So this here,” Marinette lectured smartly, tapping a nearly invisible band of marks set into the wood around the middle of the handle, “is the enchantment line Adrien mentioned! And it holds all the power needed to make it work. So now, with all the enchantments set and prepared for all I have to do is activate it!”
“Which,” Adrien chimed in, “can be customized by the witch or wizard who enchanted it the first time!”
Nino nodded, totally confused but pretending like he hadn’t been absorbed in his own thoughts. Blah blah Mary Poppins, Fantasia, Harry Potter. Yup yeah totally got it. Please don’t quiz me.
“In the case of these ones, my mom always sets similar items to activate with the same signal, so that all the cleaning stuff cleans and all the baking stuff bakes. For these two guys, it’s the same activation. A snap!”
To prove her point Marinette cheerily raised her hand, looking at Nino excitedly as she did exactly that, and snapped her fingers.
Instantly the broom quaked in place, shaking only briefly before sitting up from its position in Marinette’s hand with an air of duty and intention about it. Carter was on his feet immediately as the broom ghosted across the floor, too busy with itself to notice that it was being fervently tailed by a very unhappy canine.
‘Don’t like that!’ he barked very pointedly, ‘No no no, I don’t like that!’
Carter inserted himself into the situation all at once after a long period of sitting patiently on the outside, letting the others do as they liked but he had to put a paw down on whatever it was exactly that was happening right now. He was content to sit out and let Nino have his time but somebody had to see to this situation, and it only occurred to him that perhaps he shouldn’t when he felt the full weight of Nino holding him down.
‘Stop! No don’t touch it it’s okay, I know it’s weird dude but it’s fine!’
Carter twisted underneath the hold somewhat indignantly, once again frustrated that he and Nino didn’t ever seem to be on the same page about what was and wasn’t a priority. ‘That is not something I like, I don’t like it.’ Carter looked away to see the culprit moving about the place busily, starting to kick up an awful lot of dust that got quickly sorted away into another thing that Carter didn’t like, a limp sack of cloth that gathered whatever the broom thought fit. Something else moved over head and a bundle of feathers started getting awfully busy with itself doing nearly the same thing and he was not having that at all, aware of the fact that the others were laughing but deciding that he was the only reasonable one.
‘Carter please! I said no! This is not something we bark at, Marinette brought them it’s okay! It’s actually kind of cool!’
‘It is not!’
Nino was at a slight loss for what to do, looking up at the things Marinette had thought to bring and feeling something weirdly giddy in his chest, somehow distracted enough from his funk to laugh a little. It- they really just snapped to! He had watched her do it! Just like that she snapped her fingers and they sat up and got to business! Even right that second the broom and duster were lazily whizzing about, not even particularly rushed as they got about doing their jobs and drifting purposefully though the air like they floated on strings he couldn’t see or touch. They both had that weird static about them that magic seemed to have, only just barely perceptible and making that giddiness he felt swell.
But here he had Carter, who had always to this point managed to follow Nino’s orders no matter how much he disagreed with him. It seemed though that this was some kind of line that he was very firm on.
Nino tried not to laugh at his loyal canine friend as he continued to postulate about why this time he was definitely right, knowing that this almost definitely had everything to do with Carter’s dislike of brooms in general. And mops, he’d had a very firm stance on the issue since he was a puppy so Nino was made abruptly aware of the fact that he might not actually win this argument.
Alya was giving a play by play of the situation as Nino argued with his dog, the trio laughing into their hands and trying not to draw attention to themselves as Nino attempted diplomacy. But seeing as he couldn’t give a very convincing reason as to why the broom was moving, he seemed to be getting nowhere fast.
‘Okay Carter listen! I’ll make you a deal okay, I will let you watch the broom and the duster. You’re in charge of them okay, how about that? If you really think they’re a big deal then you can be on guard duty and make sure they don’t come after anybody. Yeah, that’s your job, okay?’ Nino looked his dog in the eye, the German Shepherd struggling less as he came to the conclusion that Nino might be taking him seriously. And, despite how funny it was, Nino was actually trying to take him seriously.
After everything that this wonderful dog had put up with to this point the least Nino could do was validate his concerns.
‘Okay bud, you keep an eye on these guys. If they smack somebody or leave the room you let me know and we’ll take ‘em down, but until they do that then please leave them alone and let them do what they’re doing okay? We got a deal?’
Nino waited until Carter was completely still, the dog still locked on target but at least hearing him out. After awhile Carter finally said, ‘Okay. I will watch them.’
The wolf sighed audibly, signaling to everyone that some peace had been brokered as he finally let Carter out from underneath him. The dog gave himself a pointed shake but wasted no time getting into position, looking to all the world like a police dog ready to go should anyone make an unexpected move.
“Oh man,” Alya snickered, the fox sitting up high on a desk now with a paw to her muzzle and mirth in her eyes. “That was so funny.”
“I guess I should have checked in with Carter before I did that huh?” Marinette tried to sympathize but giggled a little anyways. “I shouldn’t forget that he’s here that’s not fair to him.”
“Oh dogs are like that, you probably couldn’t have convinced him to like it even if you tried,” Adrien shrugged, surprised when Nino came up next to him but looking away at Alya and failing to notice that Nino was shaking his head
‘Don’t tease him please,’ Nino came to Carter’s defense, even if it was pretty funny. ‘How is he, supposed to know? He’s never seen it.’
He waited for a beat before looking at Alya, who was laughing still and had once again missed what he said. He felt a spark of irritation at that as everyone continued to giggle… but on second thought he smothered the feeling, reminding himself of his earlier sentiment. It wasn’t her job to be official translator, it was up to him to try and make himself clear. So after a second he just let it slide, giving everyone the same grace they always gave him and let it go with a sigh.
Nino had watched the magical items work for a while, doing his best to let them distract him from more complicated thoughts and just trying to enjoy himself. After only a handful of moments though there was just too much dust in the air for him to handle, soon enough all the critters in the room were sneezing.
“Okay guys maybe let’s step out for a sec and let the broom do it’s thing?” Alya suggested before long, already edging towards the door with her snout all wrinkled in distaste.
“That might be a good idea,” Marinette agreed, Adrien already out the door and letting out a mighty sneeze that echoed down the hallway, rousing a giggle from the girls. Nino hesitated a little, looking over his shoulder at Carter.
‘Carter, we’re going to be leaving the room cause it’s too dusty in here. I think it’s really okay if you just leave them to it, doesn’t it bother your nose? Come out with us.’
‘No, I don’t want them wandering off,’ Carter announced simply, his guarded position a lot closer to the door then before for the sake of some sort of clean air, but the dog not looking keen on leaving.
‘I don’t really want to leave you here by yourself, what if we walk around? I don’t know if they’ll need to go to the restroom or something. Do you promise you’re okay with it if I leave for a second?’
Carter didn’t answer right away, looking back over his shoulder at his boy and then farther back still at the fox who stood waiting in the doorway, considering the question.
After a moment he looked back to Nino, tail thumping a handful of times. ‘I trust them with you. I’ll watch our stuff, and howl if I need you.’
‘Promise you’re good?’
‘Promise.’
Nino decided that this final sentiment was good enough, trusting the school enough by this point to be comfortable leaving him on his own. Plus, Carter had wandered off on a few scouting missions of his own since their arrival, so it wasn’t unreasonable to separate for a while.
The wolf turned and headed for the wide-open door, the two-tailed fox agilely turning as well and padding out into the hallway with him. Nino was distracted briefly by her presence next to him, looking down at her and feeling that slight pang of guilt. Before he could stop himself he nudged her slightly, ducking his face to manage it and prodding her shoulder with his snout. She turned and looked up at him as soon as he did, but found no reason in his expression or words offered. It was just a touch, and after a moment she returned it, having to pop up on her back paws to do it and making him laugh.
‘You good?’ she asked subtly, only to him as they joined their friends and made a circle, the others talking amongst themselves already and gesturing to the hallway.
‘Yeah I’m good. Thanks for translating, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate it… I shouldn’t have snapped at you back there. I’m sorry.’
Unsurprisingly she rolled her eyes, and he at least had the good humor to be pleased that he had seen that coming. ‘Oh please, that was nothing. I’m the middle child of three other siblings, that was not what snapping at someone is.’ She snickered, ‘You’re good Wolfie.’
‘Wolfie?’ he scoffed instantly, the fox making a high pitched and very odd chittering sound that mixed perfectly with his mental imagining of her laughter, the two completing each other somehow in his head. ‘You can’t be serious.’ He put as much disbelief into it as he could, huffing even. ‘That’s rich coming from you Tails.’
‘Oooh,’ she cooed, swishing her two tails at him and chuckling again, ‘Very creative.’
He scoffed again but laughed too, allowing a chuckle at it and shaking his head. Whatever, he supposed, he was surprised he had made it this far without a nickname anyways. And it was a relief to know that she wasn’t angry with him.
Their little moment ended when Adrien suddenly referred to the entire group, leaning against the hallway wall with his arms crossed and gesturing down one way with his head. “Interested in looking around at all Nino? I don’t know how much you’ve gone and seen, would give us something to do until we can get back to setting up your room. Marinette says it should only take like twenty minutes, but we can just wait here if you’re more comfortable with that.”
The group waited on his response, and it didn’t take Nino very long to decide. Sure he hesitated but… the sun was nearly set and he had his friends with him, it was a little different then looking around with Carter would have been. Neither of them knew what was what when it was the two of them, at least with this group he had a little more information. It didn’t make him entirely comfortable but… he was trying to branch out a little today.
After a moment’s consideration Nino nodded, and was happy to receive Adrien’s encouraging smile. “Cool! I’ve never been here after dark before, and the only non-used classroom I’ve ever seen is yours. Do you think we could get into any of the other human ones?”
“Adrien!” Marinette wasted no time in scolding him, the Cat Sidhe already pushing off from his lounging position and starting down the hall further into the wing. “We said look around not break in.”
“What are we breaking? I just want to look! They’re all unused, aren’t they? Maybe we could find some cool human stuff!” Adrien looked over his shoulder to grin at her, beckoning her to follow as Nino and Alya had already started to. She opened and closed her mouth once as if to protest, but he could see her curiosity starting to take over slightly.
“Well… I mean if they’re open they’re open I guess.”
“That’s the spirit! Come on let’s go look.”
With Adrien’s exuberant cheer the troop started off down the hall, thankfully going further into unused territory rather than closer to the active center. As far as Nino was capable of sensing there was nobody in this wing but him, and while he had looked down the hall at the line of doors and gone off to find a bathroom in the past he hadn’t looked much further than that. If they were all truly human classrooms before getting taken over by the other realms then he had a somewhat reasonable expectation of what they would see anyways, but if it was interesting to them then he’d tag along.
They trotted off down the hall, Nino unable to keep himself from always keeping an ear out but trying to stay engaged in Adrien’s commentary as well. Being out in the open put him on edge… but he was giving it his best effort.
They all came to a stop in front of a rather large classroom, Adrien peeking around through the windows that looked inside like a fishbowl and announcing what he could see, Marinette curiously joining him. But for the animals low to the ground who didn’t feel like expending the energy to try and look, it was a little less interesting.
‘Um, so uh,’ Nino spoke after a while, keeping an ear in Adrien’s direction for keywords that might mean he needed to listen but facing towards Alya. ‘You’ve got sisters?’
‘Mhm,’ Alya answered, somehow still looking entertained at his poor attempt at small talk despite the fact that surely no fox could be that expressive. ‘Three of them, one older and two younger. The younger ones are twins.’
‘Oh cool! That’s cool. Um, what are their names?’
‘Nora is my older sister, and then my twin sisters are called Etta and Ella. My mom’s name is Marlena, she is a very, very strong Kitsune, everybody respects her. My father’s name is Otis,’ she suddenly parted her muzzle in a foxy smile. ‘He’s human.’
‘H- wait what?!’ Nino barked in shock, Adrien about jumping out of his skin in surprise and clinging to the wall.
“Nino come on, warn a guy!” Adrien whined crossly, but it took one look down to realize that Nino wasn’t listening, gaping openly at a snickering fox.
‘How can your father be human!? Are you serious?’
‘It’s true! He’s as human as they come, only one in the family, obviously.’
‘Wait so you’re… part… human?’
‘Well, no.’ The fox paused, leaning down to scratch at her ear in sudden thought. ‘I guess you wouldn’t know but, Kitsunes marry human men all the time. Well not all the time, but it does happen. My mom is pretty old and has been knocking around the human world for a really long time, but one day she found a human man and fell completely in love with him. Any children born from a kitsune are a kitsune, so me and all my sisters are like my mother. My dad is still just a regular human, but he loves my mother very much. It doesn’t matter to him that they aren’t the same.’
She watched his face carefully, still finding it funny but understanding that it was probably a big deal to him.
‘I- so, your father is just a totally normal human, how did he meet a kitsune? Does he know? Like, he must know right?’
‘Of course he knows! My family is honest, no matter what anyone says,’ Alya huffed, her tone suddenly a little sharper. ‘Maybe some kitsunes don’t tell their husbands the truth but not my mother. She pretended to be human for a little while when they were dating but that’s not the same and she didn’t like doing it she just wanted to get to know him better. When she decided she was in love with him she told him the truth.’
‘… how did he take it?’
Alya didn’t respond right away, looking off down the hall and aware of the fact that Marinette and Adrien were watching them closely, obviously interested but not wanting to interrupt. Eventually, as they started moving on to look at other rooms she said, ‘Not well, at first. My mom said he panicked and ran away and it broke her heart. She knew that could happen, but she didn’t think it would. When she tells the story she says that she wandered the human world lost and heartbroken. She lost her ability to shapeshift too, she was so distraught. She was locked in her fox form for a year.’
The wolf blanched at that, and Alya suddenly regretted saying it. ‘An entire year?!’ Nino barked, and Marinette recoiled at the sudden fear she felt in the air though she couldn’t hear what was being said. ‘A whole year? Are you serious, really an entire year?’
‘She wasn’t trying to get better! She wasn’t trying to move forward or pull it together, she was devastated. She didn’t want to find herself again, and you have to understand how short a year is to her Nino. My moms over a hundred and twenty years old, I know that seems extreme to you, but to her it was probably like nursing a breakup for a few months.’
Nino paused in his fretting, distracted slightly by the whole 120 years thing so Alya leapt on the opportunity, trying to cover up her faux pas. ‘The way she tells it she says that she was so bitter about human men that a year later she found herself being tracked by a foolish human hunter who didn’t realize what he was really following. She outran him effortlessly for ages, but he never gave up and never stopped tracking her, so finally one day she said she just turned around and headed straight for him, wanting to terrify him and drive him away for good. But you know who she found when she got there?’
The fox paused, tilting her head and waiting. She gestured with her paw impatiently, twirling it in that kind of gesture that urged Nino to participate.
‘Was it, your father?’
‘Yup!’ Alya yipped, grinning again. ‘Can you believe it? A year later he left home and dedicated himself to tracking her down. He had spent that entire time trying to learn about the things that are secret from most humans, and by the end of it decided that he wanted to find her. He hunted everywhere for her, and stayed on her trail no matter what, and when she finally ran at him to confront him he told her he was in love with her and that he wanted to know her, the real her. That it didn’t matter to him that she wasn’t human, that he didn’t believe the lies he had uncovered about Kitsunes when he investigated. He knew my mother was an honest soul and asked her if she would let a human love her.’ Alya narrowed her eyes happily, her tails swaying behind her. ‘And they’ve been together ever since. Pretty amazing right?’
‘I can’t believe it… he just, loved her so much that he gave up his normal life and married her?’
‘Well he didn’t really give up anything, he might live in the Farlands now but he still goes home for the holidays and keeps up with his family. My mom goes too sometimes but no one knows about us, their children. They decided a long time ago that they didn’t want us to have to pretend, so I’ve never met any of my human family. Maybe one day when I can pretend convincingly enough that I’m human, but for now I’d give myself away I think.’
‘Well whats so bad about them knowing? Like, your dads human and he knows, maybe they’d understand.’
‘Or maybe they wouldn’t. My mom told my dad the truth because she loved him and trusts him, but my cousins? My aunts? It would be a big decision to tell them anything, and probably against the law. There are a lot of rules about exposing humans to the other realms, but it’s honestly a little hard to discipline anyone for. My mom gets away with it because she married the guy, and that places HIM under a lot of laws too. It’s a little taboo maybe, but Kitsunes are kind of taboo anyways.’ She shrugged, stopping as Adrien found a new room to investigate.
Nino lapsed into silence at that, the creature abruptly in very deep thought. Alya padded alongside him and couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable, worried now that her attempts to relate to him had just gone south. He was so quiet and serious sometimes that it was hard to tell, but he didn’t keep her waiting for too long. Eventually he turned to look at her again.
‘That’s a cool story. I didn’t know that humans could… get involved in anything. I just- I thought that… humans being near things that aren’t human like, wouldn’t that put them in danger? I’m not trying to be offensive I’m sorry, I’m just trying to understand.’
‘You’re fine, and that’s what my mom is for, obviously.’ Alya snickered, talking through a light argument that had broken out between Marinette and Adrien off to the side. ‘Trust me, you’ve never seen a Century Kitsune, that’s what my mom is, and what I’ll be one day when I’m old enough. Nobody messes with a Century Kitsune, nobody ever. He’s her mate so he’s safe just by association, plus with my mom’s illusions and how well protected our territory is, nothing bad would ever happen to him. He can walk around the Farlands no problem. People notice that he’s married and they just leave him be, because if a human is happily married to something that holds territory in the area then odds are they don’t want to risk making anyone angry.’
‘She sounds kind of scary.’
‘Oh yeah! The scariest, and the best. I love my mom; you’d probably really like her. I bet she’d like you too.’
‘Yeah, for sure…’
Nino fell quiet again, looking off towards where Marinette and Adrien where bantering about something but not really paying attention.
After a while Alya sat next to him and poked him lightly in the side.
‘You okay?’
‘Yeah,’ he answered, surprisingly. Smiling wolfishly even, but his tone seemed… sad. ‘Just thinking about something, is all.’
Alya was on the verge of deciding whether or not it was just best to let that go, when a very audible click hit her ears. Her and Nino both looked up at the source, Marinette doing a deliberately poor job of keeping Adrien from opening the door he had found.
“Adrien I’m not sure we should go in here,” Marinette warned halfheartedly, clearly looking over his shoulder anyways into the windowless room. “We could get in trouble…”
“Come on Mari I know you want to look, and you said!” Adrien argued, opening the door all the way now. “You said if it was open it’s open, you said that. And it’s unlocked so it’s clearly not off limits. It doesn’t count as breaking and entering if all you’re doing is entering.”
Adrien looked around the group for support, Alya and Nino seemingly done with whatever they had been talking about and looking into the room curiously. Adrien tried not to notice that Nino seemed to have lost energy again, lost in thought but temporarily distracted by the unlocked room.
That was all the justification Adrien needed to do something arguably mischievous, stepping inside without any more deliberation. Marinette gave another hollow complaint but followed right after him so he knew it was all for show, the witch immediately looking for a light switch so they could start looking around, and he rolled his eyes.
‘Uh oh, Adrien found an unlocked one,’ Nino muttered to Alya, changing the subject in a way that brooked no argument, so even if it made her huff a bit she allowed it. It was his business, she supposed.
‘Mhm. Ms. B said we could walk around didn’t she? And it’s not like anyone even uses these rooms.’ Alya was going to enter but Nino walked in first, forcing her to move along behind him. He looked around once inside but didn’t seem terribly interested in it. She on the other hand was a little more intrigued.
Nino knew without having to look too hard that this was clearly some kind of side conference room meant for faculty, probably even used as a break room for teachers who didn’t want to walk clear across campus to eat their lunch. It was stale and dusty and boring like his room was, the tile and wall paneling pretty much identical but there were a whole lot of cabinets that he didn’t have, implying that this space was probably also used as storage.
There was a low counter along one side that Adrien was investigating while the girls headed towards the cabinets, and Adrien was pleased to see that Nino electing to join him instead of the others. He had been right in the middle of investigating a very weird smelling spot on the counter, the whole thing coated in an old bitter smell, when Marinette suddenly gasped.
“Oooh guys! There’s stuff in here!”
Adrien immediately whipped around at the mention of random human objects, leaving Nino to sniff at the counter alone as he charged off to take a look.
“Nino come on! Look at this stuff, maybe you know what it is.”
The wolf didn’t come right away, letting everyone bicker between themselves and drag out a few of the more interesting looking boxes. He only left when he concluded that this must have been where a coffee maker used to be, all the useful utensils having been cleared out a long time ago which was a shame. It might have been nice to find a microwave he could come use.
By the time he finally sauntered over Marinette was elbow deep in a massive nest of wires and bulbs, giggling excitedly to herself as she struggled to explain.
“Oh my gosh this is perfect! It’s exactly what Nino needs, its perfect for you! You know what these are right?” She suddenly addressed him, pulling up a large handful of what he easily recognized to be string lights. It was the white and yellow kinds that buildings usually used to decorate for dances or office parties, and by the look of the massive tangle she was holding it was quite a few of them.
Nino nodded in confirmation, sniffing at them curiously when she held them down for him.
“Wouldn’t this be great for your room? I mean I know these are in the school but, I mean they were left here after the school was abandoned so… people don’t need them. We shouldn’t take things but, I mean think about it! You said the overhead lights in your room bug you because of the noise they make right? So you always keep your room dark, but maybe if you wanted to have some lights on anyways that these might not be so noisy! And on top of that they look super cute!”
“Oh, so they’re lights?” Adrien asked, pinching one of the plastic bulbs gently in his fingers. “That’s so cool! I’ve never seen little lights like this, how do they work?”
“You just plug them in! They have to be powered but human buildings have these little spots where you can connect stuff like this to give them energy. Then when they’re activated they have the power needed to give off light. It’s sort of like a luminous charm actually, just with electricity instead of magic.”
Adrien glanced down at Nino for some indication that she was right, not because he particularly doubted her but more so because he wanted to keep him involved. Nino nodded briskly in confirmation again, his tail starting to wag as he looked at the odd bundle of wires Marinette was holding.
“We should take them!” Alya asserted out loud, jumping up onto the table they rested on and tapping the cardboard with her paw. “No one would even notice but we can just tell Ms. B about it on Monday. If she says no we can put them back but I bet you anything she’ll say it’s okay. It’s not stealing if you tell somebody.”
‘Well usually you ask ahead of time,’ Nino said in response, mostly to himself since Alya was busy again and missed it. ‘I don’t know guys, I don’t want you to get in trouble, Alya tell them I don’t want them to get in trouble.’
The fox didn’t hear him, busy discussing why it was fine to do it when she felt something poking her leg, looking down into Nino’s eyes.
‘Alya.’
‘Oh, sorry I’m sorry. What?’
He bit back a sigh and repeated himself, the others already picking the box up with all it’s contents before Alya managed to get it across. By then they had all pretty firmly convinced themselves it was okay, Adrien addressing him directly.
“We won’t get in trouble! Like Alya said we can just bring them back if Ms. B says we can’t use them and I’m almost positive she won’t care. I want to see how they work they sound pretty.”
Nino for the most part was also almost positive that no one would care one way or the other, since the human part of the school was essentially superfluous anyways but still. He couldn’t help but feel like he would have made a more convincing argument himself if he could just…
He sat out as everyone loosely looked through the rest of the cabinets, finding nothing else nearly as interesting and deciding to head back anyways. As they finally left Nino trailed behind, just a little, Alya jumping into conversation with Marinette.
This was almost perfect. He was having a lot of highs and lows as he had expected, but he was for the most part keeping his head up. Okay well maybe he wasn’t, but had he been left to his own devices it would be way worse. He was having fun, he was, and he didn’t actually care about taking the lights, in fact he thought once again that it was very sweet of Marinette to think of how it might help him.
He just felt like he was always a little bit on the outside. Not that they weren’t trying really hard, he knew they were. It’s just that there was only so much to be done. He wanted to jump in and tell Adrien how the lights worked, maybe amaze him a bit with other seemingly mundane human knowledge. If he thought string lights were cool maybe he could tell him about video games or something else but, to do so through Alya would take so much time.
He was stewing in his frustration by the time they arrived back at his room, sure that Marinette was starting to pick up on it from the way that she kept looking over her shoulder at him. Whenever they made eye contact though he would open his muzzle and smile, trying to assure her he was fine. Thankfully she didn’t call it out, but she seemed relieved to have a new angle for distraction.
“Oh great! It looks like they’re done, oooh this looks so much better!”
Marinette darted inside, dashing over to where her cleaning utensils now sat dormant. She was patting them nicely and thanking them for their hard work as everyone else came inside as well, Adrien stowing the lights off to the side and looking around with his hands on his hips.
“Alright this looks great! It’s sparkling clean now, this is so much better. Right Nino?”
Nino barked once, looking around at everything as Carter came trotting up to him smugly with a report.
‘Nothing bad! They kept on moving stuff around and getting under everything but I kept an eye on them and they never made for the door. It went on for awhile but then they just stopped all of a sudden. I kept watching them anyways just to be sure, but I think they’re done now.’
‘Great job buddy, thanks for holding down the fort. This is nicer right? No more dust!”’
Sure enough Nino figured he would be hard pressed to find even a single speck of anything out of place right now. All the cushions he had scattered around were stacked neatly in a pile (carefully cleaned of all dog hair it seemed) and even his bed was made. The desks were organized like tetris pieces and looking a lot more stable and even their used approximated counter space had been pushed smartly off to the side and left together with their contents. The scraps of clothes he had left behind and pushed into a corner had been gathered up and disposed of and every trace of food trash, dust, lint or loose fur was completely gone from every single nook and cranny. The cold tile no longer felt grainy underneath his thick paw pads, and as he moved further into the room the air was finally clear. The dim failing light from the windows with no dust motes to illuminate, just weak beams of uninterrupted light as the outside world descended into twilight.
It was a huge improvement, the room as a whole still deeply clinical but at least it was clean. In the time he’d been living there he had really made a mess of the place, so this was a nice change.
Nino made a show of darting up to Marinette to gently headbutt her legs as a thank you, the witch patting him once on a head and giving him a friendly wink. “Oh we’re not done yet! It’s gonna be even better! If it’s okay with you can we start putting some other things around? Then once that’s all finished we can set up the movie!”
“And eat!” Alya added, shooting a hopeful glance at her unused box of food.
“Yes, and eat! This is gonna be so fun Nino, we’ll show you everything we have and you can pick where to put it all! Sound good?”
Marinette waited until Nino barked again, the wolf running towards her bag expectantly with his claws clicking on the tile. He looked back at her with a goofy smile, and she was deeply relieved to feel the wave of his emotions start to shift in their momentum. That frustration was still there, but now running side by side with gratefulness and anticipation.
The following series of events was a great old mix of things. It was partly ridiculous, just the never ending depths of Marinette’s tiny clutch bag looking increasingly bizarre and hilarious like a clown car gag that just didn’t stop. He was legitimately frightened that Marinette was going to fall straight into it, Adrien having to help once or twice for a longer reach to grab whatever it was and Alya cheerfully offering to just dive inside to see if she could find it.
He felt so guilty, but also just so… warm. Marinette dragged her bag into the center of the room and started to fumble for books, blankets, pillows, towels, sheets, and rugs. She had so many rugs, some of them so large and colorful that he couldn’t even IMAGINE where she’d gotten it from. They were a ruffled on the edges and weirdly burned in some places but the pattern was stunning, woven so complexly that he really didn’t feel like the burns were enough justification to get rid of them. They were thick and far more inviting then the tile, Alya shifting back into her human form for awhile to give Adrien a hand laying them down. By the time Marinette stopped pulling them out the only space without one was the underneath of his bed and the cluster of desk in the back. She had explained as she pulled them out like handkerchiefs that her family had a billion of these things, given to them as payment by a regular fae customer who never seemed to have money but was always weaving beautiful things.
They really didn’t match each other but he loved them, already grateful for their much more comfortable padding. The mismatched explosion of color continued as Marinette stretched out the bed set she had brought, a size too big for his mattress but he kept pointing at his bed insistently until she understood that he still wanted them anyways. He gladly sank his teeth into the crappy, grating awful nurses office sheets he currently had and ripped them off himself, feeling silly but allowing himself to feel giddy again, dragging them out into the hallway so he didn’t even have to look at them as Adrien hopped to putting on the new ones. It was a loose fit and bound to fall off but whatever, probably infinitely better still.
The comforter came from Adrien, surprisingly, the boy darting over to his (now neatly folded) pile of stuff. It was arguably the thickest and softest looking blanket Nino had ever seen in his life, and weirdly made. It didn’t look like any kind of cloth or material Nino had ever seen, one side something almost like fleece but much, much finer and not nearly as hot. The other side was a deep, dark green and looked woven together, but even through the spaces he could not see the bright white almost-fleece on the other side. Adrien confirmed as he settled it on top that it had been made in the NeverNever, so Nino just assumed that the materials probably weren’t available on earth.
Carter leapt up onto his bed once it was all set up, making everyone laugh as he got good and cozy, loudly announced to his boy how everything smelled. Carter’s smell commentary was nearly constant, vacillating between ‘Nice’ and ‘soft’ and ‘weird’ and ‘cat!’
He wasn’t wrong, some things smelt like a- well, like a bakery, and some other things smelled wild as heck and he had no name for it.
Marinette and Alya tag teamed folding and putting away all the linens, Adrien taking the opportunity to go through all the clothes he had brought for Nino for when he changed back. There wasn’t too many, but it certainly bolstered his meager collection and added more variety. A lot of it looked like regular cotton but some of it was a bit old looking, like something a nomad might wear.
Adrien sheepishly apologized for the wear and tear, saying that they were all his personal hand-me-downs. He promised him though that they had always been a bit baggy on him so it was his hope that they would all at least loosely fit him. Regardless of how often Nino would ever use them, it was a very kind gesture.
After that they went through the books and supplies Marinette had thought to bring, some of it reassuringly human and some of it very not human at all.
His very favorite thing of all was the best possible gift he could have ever been given. Everything was kind, everything was great, from the rugs and the towels to Carter’s brand-new dog bed and the huge array of treats. Every gesture, and action and kindness was so much more than he ever could have asked for… but it was the music player that did it.
“It’s really old,” Marinette immediately defended it, the small black box with speakers and a cd slot making a slight clatter as she set it on the ground for him to see. “It’s one of the very first human devices I ever bought and a favorite of mine. Don’t worry though! I’ve got a new one my dad bought me so you can have this one. I only have a few CDs but, maybe if you could tell us what you like we can find some more for you. It’s hard to find discs now but that means they are always really cheap! I’ve tried to figure out how to get music online but… computers don’t like me.”
Nino just stared, his tail starting to thump slowly against the rug covered floor. It thumped, and thumped, and picked up its pace, getting faster and faster until his whole body was moving with it. He on his feet suddenly, and the wave of emotion that hit her made Marinette just start laughing, the feeling so warm she couldn’t contain it.
He couldn’t help it. He felt like such a dog but it seemed like the final straw, like he just couldn’t handle that huge nameless feeling that dominated his chest. It got so big that his body couldn’t contain it all, having to move to get some of it out.
He had been excited as they decorated, explaining everything that had been given to him for Carter just to tell somebody since no one could hear him at the time. He had felt warm, and grateful, and guilty and relieved, all wrapped up together with no where to go, no outlet. He kept saying to Carter how grateful he was but it wasn’t right, he couldn’t say it. Once again it was just too big, he never stood a chance at making it clear.
The rugs, the blankets, the clothes, the help. The conversations, just… the company, the effort, the attempt to bridge that gap he couldn’t stand.
The good nature of the boy in the lunchroom. The show of faith from a fox in a borrowed space… And the generosity of a witch and her family, who gave all that they could.
The exuberance he felt was quickly punctuated by something else, his relief and gratitude growing heavy and huge. It had been building up for so long now… and he kept thanking them but no one could hear. Maybe there weren’t names to the emotions, which is why he could find none. It was something sad… but something warm. Something grateful, and something just too huge.
It was hopeful when so much hadn’t been.
“Nino, Nino it’s okay, I understand. It’s okay,” Marinette was suddenly speaking, and she wrapped his arms around him quickly, no doubt drowning in it with him as the others hovered helplessly, Alya quickly shifting forms hoping to help. The witch sounded startled, like she was trying not to cry…
Ah.
He had spiraled so fast, getting lost in it, making it hard again. No matter how happy he was there was still that risk, that pit fall. He hadn’t thought he was losing it but… he realized too late that he was shaking, Carter suddenly pressing his face into his back. Nino looked around over Marinette’s shoulder, wanting to tell them everything was okay, to apologize. But everywhere he looked his eyes landed on another of their gifts, on their faces laced with empathy. Too kind, every one of them. And he couldn’t say anything. Again.
A whine wracked through him as he leaned into Marinette, the sound weird and strained. He made another odd, misplaced sound and Adrien found himself looking to Alya, trying to find anything. But once again she had nothing to say, not understanding.
“I think he- maybe this is too much,” Adrien was suddenly saying, getting nervous as he looked around. He looked clear over Nino, trying to come up with some kind of game plan. “Maybe we should step outside or, or give him some space?”
‘Nino talk to me’ Alya urged him with a yip, reaching out to him another way as Marinette and Adrien started to quickly talk above them. ‘Are you okay? We can-,’
No. They didn’t understand, he couldn’t explain.
It happened then, quite suddenly, quite literally out of nowhere, all at once as some things do.
Nino said,
“Thank you.”
He forced it out and felt it leave him, like a sound that hung above everything else. The words shook and were barely there, as if they were said on the very last dredge of air in someone’s lungs.
The wolf inhaled sharply, shaking still as he felt everyone around him gasp, except for perhaps Carter who never noticed such things. Marinette drew back instantly, looking him in the eyes with a look of complete shock.
“Did you just-,” she gasped.
“He DID!” Adrien suddenly cheered, laughing in disbelief and drawing back himself, looking him over before laughing again, the sound of it triumphant
“You- Nino!” Alya cheered, mimicking the same tone he had finally just managed, those disembodied words that hung around them and allowed her to be heard, no matter what her form. “You did it!! You spoke out loud! You did it!!”
“… did I?”
“YES!” everyone cheered, so loud that it hurt his ears and stunned him a little. They all watched as the wolf looked around a little bit blearily, like he was pulling himself out of a well of thoughts and a little disassociated from the climb. Marinette released him so he could back away a little, getting a little distance as he tried to access what was going on.
He was so deep in his own head that he had just said it, rambling the sentiment as he must have done a thousand times by now. His frustration at not being understood had reached a breaking point, where even he couldn’t make sense of anything he said. Just a little on the outside from the incredible people who reached so far. He just-
… he just wanted to be heard, to have some hope of being known.
“Can I- can you still?” Nino looked between them urgently, shifting in place. “You can hear me?”
“Yes! It’s just like you’re talking out loud, I can hear it clear as day!” Adrien assured him, still giggling in giddy relief. “Oh my gosh, this is so great! This is really, really good Nino!”
“But… why?” Nino asked slowly, too nervous to be hopeful but his ears swiveled at the sound, trying to decide whether or not it had really come from him. “Why now? What happened?”
“I have no idea! I wasn’t even sure werewolves could project out loud,” Marinette said after a moment, laughing through her words like she was glad that she was wrong. “My dad said you should have been able to right away, when you couldn’t I just assumed something was wrong.”
“I said he could!” Alya yipped pointedly. “All shifters can do it, but you just- your transformation was really bad. You lost your grip on everything, you couldn’t even talk.” The fox tilted her head curiously, but she was clearly excited too. “If you can suddenly do it now then, it must be a good sign! You’re getting your grip back.”
Nino hesitated, feeling slightly frantic and afraid every time he said something, like it was going to fade and he’d be right back where he started. He didn’t think he could stand it if it did, he couldn’t just go back to square one.
… but he wasn’t. He realized.
At square one.
His friends were gathered in front of him with eager expressions shared between them, relief so real in that moment that he might as well have returned from sea. And maybe he had, in a way, or perhaps he was just a bobbing head found treading water above a sinking ship.
The ship sank steadily down into darkness and had taken him with it, for a time. And though he might still be drowning… he was treading water, and others were coming to help.
He could almost sense the gaping darkness underneath his bed watching him, looking for a monster to hide inside it. But it found none here, not right now. Not when friends were here and things were better.
Nino’s tail began to wag again, a shaky laugh slipping out as he took a deep breath,
An update!! And I’m already writing the next one. Happy Halloween! Get caught up on AO3.
Some things changed after the trio of students had decided to visit, and some things didn’t. For one, the visits continued.
They had lingered for hours on that first day, speaking softly and through Alya most of the time. The Kitsune dutifully translated anything Nino wanted to pass along, which wasn’t much. He barely spoke after a while, but Alya and Marinette combined continued to monitor his reactions, and at no point were they asked to leave. A lot of that time was spent in silence, Nino speaking primarily to Alya but padding over to the others every once in a while, trading a subdued wag of the tail for a smile.
Eventually though, as lunch drew near, they were forced to leave.
Marinette was chittering quietly about how they probably shouldn’t have skipped so much class even if they had been given permission, but Adrien just patted her on the shoulder, assuring her that it was all alright and that no one would be getting in trouble (for as much her benefit as Nino’s who seemed to be worried about it, though he couldn’t say as much to him directly).
He was the first one to ask if Nino would rather have some privacy, or if he could bring him some food during the lunch break and hang out with him for a while. The knowledge that Nino was going to be alone for the weekend was nagging at him deeply, and even if he knew that he might be pushing it he was having a hard time leaving him alone knowing it would be days before he would be able to come back.
It was to all of their relief when Alya passed along that that would be… fine. He wouldn’t mind it if they did, but that he wanted them to go back to class for the rest of the day after. He didn’t want anyone falling behind for his sake, and Alya had huffed in disbelief at that.
‘You have every right in the world to worry about yourself too you know,’ the fox had told him as the group made to leave, leveling him with her sharp, unyielding gaze. ‘Not just everyone else or how everyone else feels about you.’
Nino had thought about that for awhile after they left.
He didn’t move much or speak much as time slowly passed him, wrapped up in the things that Alya had said to him. He was still… terrified. And misplaced and… and a thousand hard, heavy things. But he was thinking.
When he had been cowering under the bed alone, ignoring Ms. B and anyone else kind enough to try he had hardly been thinking really, he wasn’t sure if his dark, circling thoughts counted. It all always fell back on itself, every moment only colored with shame and self-hatred.
Those things weren’t gone, not even remotely, but he was thinking now, grasping at threads and trying to remember how they all went together.
Alya’s advice seemed like bullshit, the rest of the time they had been there only resulting in her rephrasing the sentiments she had originally shared, but it was all he had and he refused to just disregard it. He had watched her shift, in the same instantaneous way he had, it was the only grounds for comparison he had and he wasn’t sure if he’d survive it if he just ignored what she had to say. He needed something.
But accepting what she had said was…
Hard.
“You can’t be Nino without this anymore.”
How could that be true?
He was still sitting in the same spot when they eventually came back, and he was unsure how much time had actually passed. He could hear them approaching from ages away, and spent the time passively trying to guess which footsteps belonged to who.
The only one he could pick out right away were Marinette’s, if only because the other two were so much quieter by comparison. Marinette was hardly thundering down the hallway but the others just moved so quietly.
It was a nothing thought that yielded no purpose, but some part of him liked the idea of being to tell instantly at some point… if their kindness held out and he managed to reciprocate somehow. If they kept coming by, despite the state he was in.
He smelled the food they all had with them second, and his stomach crawled hungrily once he did. He was surprised by it actually, since he had had absolutely no appetite at all ever since… well.
Ever since.
Carter had been trying so hard to get him to eat every time Ms. B came by with something, but the only thing it had resulted in was a few stale pieces of things left discarded under the bed after his loyal dog had dragged them to him with worried whines. He had been too numb and detached to have even acknowledged him then…
As the students approached however he held on to that feeling of hunger, knowing that despite how horribly uncomfortable it might feel that he needed it. He felt like he owed it to Carter to at least try, knowing that he had been refusing to eat so long as Nino went hungry.
When Adrien entered in the lead he was carrying two trays, one presumably for himself and one for Nino which was piled generously with several types of things (all human, which he appreciated). He was surprised but happy to notice that Marinette also had a second tray with her, filled specifically with Carter in mind.
As the gang settled in it became instantly clear to Nino that despite his intentions for Carter’s sake that he was far too ashamed to actually eat in front of them, knowing he would be forced to pick at it with large unwieldy teeth like an animal. The mental image of doing so was so uncomfortable that he found his appetite quickly waning, and Carter was left whining in concern again.
He had been about to try and explain it to his dog when he suddenly felt that wave of nearly indiscernible static, and he whipped his head in time to see Alya shift once again into a fox, crouching over her food and shooting him a glance as she did so.
He watched for a while, which felt weird to do but she seemed to allow it. Alya didn’t appear to be making any effort at all to be lady like, picking at things and chewing them apart in her own, sharp teeth. Some pieces fell to the floor and she was making a bit of a mess, and any time she did she would give him a look.
Nino had glanced nervously at the others at the time, gauging their reactions to their friend first before… slowly, and delicately, he took a piece of his own food.
As soon as he had eaten even a bite Carter leapt at his own tray, tail wagging in excitement as he finally gave himself permission to eat and the sight filled Nino with just enough guilt and just enough concern to continue. Eventually, as he struggled his way through the first few bites, his hunger got the best of him and he kept going, checking for the others’ eyes less and less as they talked amongst themselves. They ignored him completely, seemingly by design, and he was once again grateful to them and their thoughtfulness. Even the choices of food on his plate seemed to have been deliberately picked to be as easy for him as possible, and though he himself did not participate much in the discussions they all had… he was fine with having them there.
Glad even.
The weekend passed. He didn’t remember most of it, to be honest. It was a blur of stress and disgust, and hopelessness, pierced every once in awhile by a fierce kind of stubbornness that he clung to like a torch in the dark. Carter continued to dutifully feed him, insisting on the meals that continued to appear.
It seemed that the school was not as abandoned on the weekends as he had at first assumed, although no one but the worker who left him things outside his door every came through his hallway. Carter had reported, after several scouting missions of his own volition, that some other students lived on campus as well and wandered the premise, but never down his hallway. Never ever.
He was glad for that.
Despite his hours of effort and concentration he never once felt like he was getting close to finally changing back, the days where he had been trapped as he was slowly stacking up and driving him deeper and deeper into his own head. The only thing that kept him from succumbing entirely to his numbness was the things Alya had told him.
He had yet to follow her advice sufficiently, so he couldn’t actually disregard it yet. It seemed stupid, and useless and impossible, but it was the only thing he had been given and until he managed it and failed then he couldn’t really be sure it was useless. Even though his failures frustrated him… it was something.
He had to come to terms with the fact that this was him, as much as anything else. Somehow, if he did that, she said it would help. If he could decide who Nino was… what Nino was would become irrelevant.
Or something…
The only thing the weekend actually served to accomplish was that he got used to moving around, though he tried not to as much as possible. Whether he liked it or not he was better at eating and walking. Using the bathroom was a trick but, if he could make Carter do it he could do it.
Carter himself was a steady friend, no matter what. He never got impatient or frustrated, he was only even concerned. He put so much hard work into dragging Nino out of the darkness, even just a little bit, even just for a moment, that there were very fleeting moments where Nino couldn’t resist entirely.
They played once, only once but it had made Carter so incredibly happy. It had felt bizarre and sort of… demeaning, but then Carter would bound at him and skitter across the tiles of their room and he’d feel a surge of fondness that made it a little easier to indulge him. Besides, he had reasoned with himself, how many times had he rough housed with his dog and chased him around the yard when he was at home, it was essentially the same just a little more… engaging. Instead of pushing his dog to the ground or wrestling him and picking him up he found himself forced to mimic Carter’s movements, able to actually lose himself in his dog’s eager enthusiasm for just a little while. It felt kind of like turning his brain off for a second, refusing to dwell in his horrible thoughts and doing away with them just for a moment, actually leaning into this new form without being outright disgusted of it.
Carter had charged at him and gripped him with his teeth, trying feebly to wrestle this much much bigger creature to the ground and never successful, although he didn’t mind it the slightest. It just took one big push from the wolf to send him sprawling, Carter laughing and barking as he tried to tackle him again. At first it had only been Carter laughing but eventually, this his amazement and immense relief, Nino laughed too. It was the first time he bowed back, spreading out his front legs in an invitation for Carter to try again, and his heart had soared. It was the first laugh without a trace of bitterness that Carter had earned since he tackled his boy in the woods on the side of the highway, but even then that laugh had been laced with tears and fear. This laugh was just… a laugh. It made him so happy.
Eventually they had stopped, panting in exhaustion and laying together on the ground. Carter’s heart had been so light that he was childishly hoped that the worst was behind them but…
Time keeps passing, even in the bright moments in long stretches of darkness time unfairly moves forward. Eventually Nino stopped laughing and he grew still. Eventually his thoughts returned to him and the bitterness Carter had barked away crept back in, and though Carter attempted to engage him again it didn’t work a second time. He would bound at him and ask him to chase, but Nino would stare forward at nothing and Carter’s tail would hesitate… and stop wagging.
That was the thing about pain, Carter was slowly coming to realize. Pain wasn’t exactly what he had thought it was. There were no things to fix or things to change. He couldn’t alter the path forward to avoid pain in the future, it was harder to learn from then that. Pain was sometimes a… state. It was a place you could get to and be in, and get lost in…
Carter was terrified that Nino might get to some place he couldn’t follow, where even if he was standing right there Nino would still feel like he was alone, like he had been abandoned somehow. What could he possibly do then, if he stayed right there but Nino couldn’t see him?
It scared him so much.
But he didn’t let his boy see that, or at least he tried. He hoped, and worried and tried. He cared for him and tried to understand, he tried all kinds of things. He wasn’t sure he was doing any of them right… but he tried.
For Nino’s sake.
Monday came, eventually. Nino had some okay moments and some bad ones. Mostly he was just quiet, thinking. Working at something Carter could never understand.
Along with Monday though, came something else, something that Carter eagerly waited for. They had just been sitting quietly when Nino’s ears swiveled at some distant sound. Carter was a little bitter that Nino’s hearing seemed to be so much better than his own these days, a little put out that one of his key services to his boy was rendered moot, but he hardly worried about these things for long. He was instantly distracted when the noise came close enough for him to hear himself, distant at first but certainly… yes, it was-
‘Footsteps’ Nino huffed for the first time in a long time it felt like, poking his head out from under the bed.
‘Food?’ Carter asked, but it didn’t sound right for that. Nino shook his head, tilting it slightly as he listened.
‘No, I don’t think so. Maybe its… yeah. I think so.’ Nino started to crawl all the way out. ‘It’s Adrien.’
It was the start of a routine. Very first thing in the morning, as the week picked back up and the school began to swell with others Adrien would run to his room. He was usually running behind and a little scatter brained, barely beating the bell or even sometimes appearing after it, but no matter how late it was going to make him Adrien always stopped by Nino’s room first. From Monday onward, Nino could come to expect the eventual pattern of footsteps, sometimes accompanied by others.
It seemed like none of these new people in his life had any grasp on when school actually started, something sort of… humanizing, for lack of a better word. While at first he was always ashamed to have them appear when he had made absolutely no progress at all, eventually he started to adjust. At this point they had seen and interacted with him more as an animal then as a person, but it didn’t deter them from continuing to show up. Despite everything… they really didn’t seem to mind all that much. He had convinced himself over the weekend that the pity and kindness of good-hearted people could only go so far, but as Adrien continuously made an effort he wondered how much of it was still obligation. Nino hardly had anything he could give back, he couldn’t even speak to him unless Alya had managed to make it to school with enough time, but regardless Adrien showed up every morning.
There were days at first where Nino could barely do anything, barely raise his head or look at him in the eye… but some days he was stronger. Some days he managed to look at him while he rattled on about something. Once or twice he even approached him on his own, headbutting him softly in one of the only gestures he was capable of.
He didn’t need Marinette’s ability to see how happy those little efforts made him, even if it was such a small useless thing to give back.
Nino came to look forward to lunch time. He leaned into that feeling and allowed himself to be dully excited in whatever way he could manage, knowing that it was probably good for him no matter how tiny it may seem. It was something.
Marinette, Alya, and Adrien came by every single day for lunch, always showing up with two extra trays in hand. Once or twice Ms. B came by during this time as well, just to peep in and see how it was going. She visited him often on her own as well but actively encouraged her students to keep up the habit, but it was unnecessary. Without her prompting she saw their patterns change and move to include someone who needed them. And she was astounded again at the kindness of children.
It was the start of the lunch period on Wednesday that Adrien knocked and entered the room to discover Nino already waiting for him, the large creature out in the open without being encouraged and waiting for him patiently. The girls were right behind him and seemed about as delighted with the change as Adrien was, everyone greeting Nino warmly as his tail wagged gently. He even stood and crossed over to them, greeting each of them with a light touch. It was simple but he couldn’t speak and he didn’t exactly have hands, so he mirrored something he thought Carter might do and pressed his weight into their legs as he came up to them, looking each of them in the eye before trotting over to his spot.
To everyone else it seemed like fantastic progress, so the atmosphere was right away just a little bit warmer.
“You missed some fun stuff in class today Nino, I can’t help but think that you would have known a lot about it,” Adrien started conversationally after they were finished greeting each other, sitting down in one of the desks they had dragged out at some point to eat on. He stooped to put Nino’s down on the floor where he could get it, taking Nino’s tilt of the head as an encouragement to continue. “It’s all about media today. I was thinking Ms. B just meant like ‘mediums’ as in like art mediums? And she was talking about poetry and painting and singing and sculpting and stuff but she like right away lost half the class when she started talking about all the other stuff. The human ones.”
Nino tilted his head even further, and Marinette piped up around her mouthful of sandwich. “He means like human art forms,” she mumbled a little incoherently, swallowing quickly and making a vague gesture with her hand. “Like TV and movies. The discussion topic was on storytelling I think, all the different ways that creatures tell stories to their race and others.” She quickly took another bite, nodding to herself thoughtfully before swallowing again. “It was really interesting. I hadn’t exactly though about it, but it’s pretty true that the ways certain races tell stories to themselves is different than how they would share it with others. The act of crafting and passing down stories is nearly universal in all cultures though, isn’t that crazy? It seems pretty simple, but its so rare for there to be anything that exists across all realms. According to Madame Bustier it’s one of the only but biggest examples.”
“Well it makes sense doesn’t it?” Alya chimed in, still in her human form though she did tend to switch over at some point or another. “Any sentient creature has some form of communication, no matter how different it is from our own. The act of sharing information and data is not all that far removed from telling a story, even if it’s just the recounting of an event. That’s still a story isn’t it?”
“Yeah I suppose it is,” Adrien answered, Nino swiveling his attention between each of them as they spoke. “It might just be told like a memory but its still the passing of info. Which I guess still qualifies it as storytelling.”
“Yeah, which is pretty much a given no matter what race it is. I bet for some it might just stop there, but lots of races get really complex with it. Humans just went nuts with the concept I guess.” Marinette giggled at her last sentence, enjoying the look of utter exasperation that came over Adrien’s face.
“No kidding, I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about after a while. I mean she kept making analogies but I’m still super lost…” Adrien pouted and looked at Nino, including him again as he stated in defeat, “There’s no way I’m passing this test.”
When Nino pitched his head to the side again in confusion Adrien chuckled a little, but immediately rolled it back to try and deduce what Nino’s question might be. He hazarded a few guesses but smiled sheepishly when he was wrong a third time about what Nino was asking, the wolf fidgeting a little in frustration as how hard communicating was. Alya didn’t have to be asked to stand then, stepping away from her desk where she was eating to shift over and shake out her fur.
‘Okay sorry, what were you asking?’ Alya asked him once she was in her fox form, stretching a little.
Glad to have someone who could understand him (aside from Carter who was distracted by food and couldn’t answer anyways) Nino craned his head to look at her but was still pointed towards Adrien, who he was indirectly talking to. ‘I wanted to ask him what exactly has him so confused since he seemed to get the concept fine. Like what exactly is he worried about failing, the human part?’
‘I think that’s what he means yeah cause I don’t get it really either.’ She answered for herself, before repeating the question out loud for Adrien. She didn’t have to switch over when she did it, able to be heard even though the fox’s mouth didn’t move at all. It was like a disembodied voice that just projected out loud, and he found himself wishing once again that he could figure out how to do that.
“Yeah! The human part,” Adrien answered right away, looking at Nino when he did it. “Like, Ms. B started going in to all these human exclusive story telling mediums that you guys have and we don’t, or at least I don’t I mean, in the Never Never. We have things that are… kind of like that. Sort of.” He paused, mulling it over as he realized they really weren’t all that comparable. “Like okay we have moving images, but we don’t have fake ones, for fun. We don’t really…” he paused again, clearly struggling. “We HAVE plays and shows and concerts and things, but I’ve never seen something like a play with actors but shown just in moving images. Am I making any sense? I really don’t get it.”
“He means movies,” Marinette supplied helpfully, waiting until Adrien had thoroughly confused himself before chiming in with an answer she knew would make sense to Nino.
‘Oooooooh, okay. Wow seriously?’ Nino said at Alya directly this time. ‘The fae don’t have movies?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Alya supplied with a vague approximation of a shrug, ‘at least not how she was describing it. The fae have all kinds of ways to tell stories but the way she was trying to explain what movies are really lost some people. I’ve seen one before at Marinette’s house so I get it a little, kind of. But Adrien’s never seen one I think.’
‘Adrien’s NEVER seen a MOVIE?’ Nino barked out, Adrien looking over at Alya with an expectant smile as he hoped she would translate the sound.
Once she did everybody laughed.
“I don’t even know that that is!” Adrien exclaimed, laughing as he did but gesturing in exasperation. “What is that!? How am I supposed to understand that from a description, I was not the only one who was confused.”
Marinette was giggling helplessly as Alya agreed, and Nino shook his head at the confused cat man.
“What, are you judging me? What’s a movie then, you describe it.”
Adrien’s watched as the wolf’s expression became abruptly contemplative, the animal form still expressive enough to convey how deeply he was considering the question. How do you explain a concept like that to someone who’s never seen it?
He thought it over for quite a while, Alya popping up onto her seat and then onto the desk to continue eating as he considered how to put it. Eventually the wolf looked over at her and the group awaited his response, which took him and Alya a few moments to get across as she had to keep pausing the get the next bit.
“It’s a lot like a play that shows a fictional story with people playing different roles within the story that are different from themselves. They have set lines to deliver, and by doing that it tells a story that is not real and might not even be BASED in reality, it can be anything. It is recorded visually on a machine and can be shown on a different machine at any time, so its like getting to sit in the audience of a play whenever, without actually having to be there in person. You can watch the play from somewhere else as many times as you want.”
Alya finished repeating what Nino said and then mulled it over alongside Adrien, Marinette nodding in agreement. Adrien still looked a little confused but clarified. “So, it’s like a device used to show the same story later?”
‘Like a book you can see. You can read a book whenever so long as you have it, same thing with a movie. If you’ve got the stuff for a movie you can watch it whenever too.’
“That’s INSANE though, a book you can see? That’s crazy.” Adrien shook his head, getting lost in thought over it as he continued to eat.
“It’s something you just have to see for yourself, human’s have a lot of stuff like that,” Marinette explained. “They have inventions for pretty much everything. My mom didn’t grow up in the human realm so she says that adjusting to stuff like that was really crazy at first. I was raised here though so it’s something I see all the time. I hadn’t realized other people might not get it until I invited Alya over for a sleepover.”
Alya looked up at her name. “I loved it though, it was really cool. That sleepover was so fun girl, I love your house it’s amazing.”
“Aw I’ve never been to your house,” Adrien whined a little, and Marinette rolled her eyes.
“We can all have a sleepover again maybe, if my parents are okay with that.” After a moment she seemed to consider what she said and then abruptly her face lit up. “Oh my gosh a sleep over! That would be so fun actually! It was great when me and Alya did it! And we can say it’s for studying too because then we can all watch movies and it will help you guys with the test too! I have all that stuff at my house we can all do it, even if you guys can’t spend the night it would help right?”
Adrien immediately jumped on the idea, surprised that his little complaint had actually gotten him somewhere all of a sudden and he was taking about it excitedly. Alya told her that her mom would probably let her spend the night no problem and Adrien happily reminded them all that his guardian barely knew where he was most of the time anyways, and it was only when Marinette started talking about an outing for ‘the five of us’ that Nino realized this included him somehow.
Nino’s heartrate instantly spiked at the idea, looking anxiously between them as they talked and moving to his feet. While at first Adrien and Alya didn’t notice, Marinette looked right at him immediately, aware of the sudden surge of panic.
He couldn’t go out, he couldn’t leave. The idea of leaving the school at all and meeting anyone and going out into the human world like this put him right on edge immediately. Marinette lived in the city he couldn’t-!
And then she was kneeling in front of him, demanding his attention as she was instantly apologizing.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry of course you don’t have to hang out with us! I shouldn’t have assumed I just- I’m sorry.” And she really was, the petite little witch was sunk in on herself, her baby blue eyes entirely genuine. “I didn’t mean to upset you I just- I got excited about the idea of us all going out together. I was just talking; I didn’t mean that you had to. Of course you don’t have to. I know you probably don’t want to leave the school; I shouldn’t have even said it.”
Her ability to detect emotion and act on it before he was even done feeling it was once again a little jarring, her reaction to what he was thinking often too fast for him to have even fully processed it. His heart was still beating quickly, and he was aware of Carter appearing by his side the second the atmosphere got tense, Nino left feeling a little exposed
‘Don’t apologize! I-I’m sorry too. Just hang on. I’m not mad you’re okay.’
Marinette looked over her shoulder as Alya said it for him, both her and Adrien looking a little on edge themselves. Nino felt a brief surge of guilt over having ruined the entire conversation all of a sudden, and then a slight edge of frustration as he could tell that Marinette picked up on that as well.
It was only when Nino was getting read in the middle of what he was feeling that Marinette’s empathic ability could get a little frustrating, because often he wasn’t even done thinking about what was happening just yet. Getting read for your initial reaction was ripe for misunderstanding, even if in this case he was actually uncomfortable with the idea he didn’t think that was her fault.
He conveyed the last thought to her through Alya, explaining that she was totally fine and that he didn’t blame her for anything. He also asked her to give him just a second to formulate his feelings first, and she hung her head a little.
“I’m sorry. I… I do that all the time. People always tell me not to do that, I really try I just sometimes,” she gave him a sheepish look, “… get nervous. If I think I upset people. I’m sorry.”
‘It’s okay, don’t apologize. It helps out most of the time. I don’t mean that I don’t want to hang out with you guys, I just… I can’t leave. I can’t.’
His ears flattened as he said it, unable to help certain physical giveaways. Adrien and Alya both nodded right away and everyone rushed to assure him that they completely understood. But he still felt just a little bit rotten over it.
‘I like doing this,’ he suddenly said, surprised that he meant it. He really was coming to enjoy lunch time, and he found himself wishing every once in a while that he could be out there with them and not stuck cowering in his room. ‘I like that you guys visit. I want to be friends.’ (“We are friends,” Adrien interrupted when Alya translated.) ‘Hanging out and watching a movie sounds… nice. And normal. And something I could actually participate in… I wish I could. I’m sorry that I can’t, but I hope you guys have fun.’ He peered up at them with his ears still folded back. ‘Tell me about it when you do. I’ll wait for you guys.’
Everyone was frowning by the time that Alya finished saying it for him, looking between each other as a short silence fell over them. Nino fidgeted uncomfortable as it went on, briefly wondering if they could telepathically communicate without him from all the looks they were trading each other. It didn’t feel like anyone seemed to like the idea now.
Then, once again but more hesitantly this time, that same bright energy seemed to flicker back into place in Marinette’s eyes. She leaned towards him again, still crouching in front on him and looking kind of small compared to how big he was.
“Maybe, only if you want, and it doesn’t have to be now if you don’t want, but… maybe, do you think, we could get permission to stay here?”
There was a pause as the beast looked back at her, before tilting its head further to the side then he ever had at this point, looking a little silly actually.
Marinette giggled just a little before hesitantly continuing, fiddling with her dress as she said it. “It wouldn’t be too hard to get a TV in here, I actually think most of the classrooms in this wing have a really super old one on wheels we could probably take! I could bring all the other stuff over from my house since it’s really close and we could all bring blankets and stuff here. We wouldn’t have to stay the night if you didn’t want us too, but we could maybe get permission from Ms. B to stay here after school and watch a movie in here instead. There’s lots of students here after classes end so I don’t think anyone would mind. What do you think?”
“That could be really fun too!” Adrien chimed in right away, “And then we could still have you come! You could explain how it works and even pick a book to watch.”
“Movie,” Alya corrected quietly, smiling in that foxy way she managed, watching Nino for his response.
Marinette and Adrien were both grinning hopefully as Nino slowly straightened his posture, looking between all three of them as he struggled to pull the thought together.
‘You guys want to… hang out? Here? But it’s so dusty and terrible. I don’t want you guys to not do what you were going to because of me and be all uncomfortable. It’s… really cool of you to include me and it sounds like a lot of fun but, don’t-‘
‘No hang on, stop, you’re being stupid,’ Alya interrupted him. The wolf gaped up at her and she ignored him with a swish of her tail, saying out loud a not so literal approximation of what he said this time. “He says his room is really dusty and crappy but that he is really happy you guys want to include him. Then he started saying something stupid about us not putting ourselves out just for his sake even if it sounds like fun for him, and then I stopped listening.”
‘Hey!’ he barked indignantly, but she was looking away from him smugly, letting the others jump in urgently.
“It wouldn’t be putting us out! We want to! We only wouldn’t do it if you were uncomfortable with the idea but don’t say no cause of us,” Adrien urged him eagerly.
“Besides!” Marinette jumped in, “Maybe we can make this room not so bad! I know you say all the time how you hate it, we could make that part of the fun! We could bring all sorts of stuff and clean up and make it better for you. I can’t believe they gave you such a depressing room anyways.”
“Seriously,” Alya said to everyone, looking around. “This place doesn’t really give off a ‘welcome to school’ vibe. I bet we can make it way better, home makeover style.”
“I’ve got loads of stuff my mom always wants to give away,” Marinette was saying, checking Nino’s emotional state again and again as she went but mostly finding him shocked and frozen. “It’s all just sitting around in bags for us to donate, I bet you’d like a bunch of it!”
‘Y-you guys, you don’t have to do that! You’ve already been so cool!’ he huffed at them, hopping a little bit on his paws to get their attention. ‘I mean, if you really want to, if you seriously don’t mind then… I mean, then, sure! I guess. I’ll really try, I promise. I know I can kind of get… moody. But I really will try. It would be cool, I promise I won’t ruin it. I’ll try and keep my head up.’
“He says yes, he wants to do it.”
‘Say the other stuff I said too!’ Nino growled a little, the fox chuckling and rolling her eyes but complying after a second. It yielded the expected reassurance from the group that he wouldn’t ruin anything, and an unexpected addition from Adrien.
“You don’t have to fake it around us Nino,” Adrien told him very seriously, smiling a little. “We want to have fun as a group cause you’re our friend now. If you need space from us or time alone or whatever you can always step out and we won’t bug you. If you want us to leave early we will, and if you ever need something from us just ask.”
Everyone nodded at his sentiment, said so simply and easily without any hesitation at all. Clearly its how they all felt from how quickly they agreed, moving on to discuss planning the event itself and who to ask and when, what to bring and so on. They talked amongst themselves to have a night in together, but Marinette could feel what he was feeling.
The wolf bowed its head and was supported by his dog, Carter nuzzled into his side. Nino had a quiet moment mostly to himself at what Adrien had said so effortlessly, and in the moment he didn’t have it in him to be ashamed that he needed it. What would being proud get him, when there were people who were trying to help right in front of him. How could he beg for a lifeline when he might be too stubborn to take one once it was there? Watching a grainy VHS with people he’s barely met might not have seemed so important a few months ago, but now? When he was so confused and scared every moment he was undistracted?
He wanted it so badly…
‘Okay,’ he eventually said, his tail thumping slowly and his ears facing forward. ‘Okay… let’s do it. I’m in.’
Now ill admit while the later scenes were fun as heck to write i had to cross a lot of time in the beginning so its a lot of telling but its gets better, i just need to set up a thing and then i can do all the fun parts. For those of you who havent read it, its a Royalty AU. Aw yeah
Enjoy!
Nino’s job, when all was said and done, was exactly as he had defined it to be before.
His job was to be dangerous and stand in front of a door, and oh man was he standing in front of one right that very moment.
An important door. Nothing more important than important doors and deciding who was important enough to enter important doors, now that was important. Now surely he wasn’t remotely important enough for this particular door but he sure was allowed to be watching it, and he was currently, right that second, watching the hell out of that door.
God damn he was so bored…
Nino shifted in place, repressing a sigh and trying not to resent the elegant stone hallway he waited in. He was very close to the center of the castle so the architecture was at its finest, the hall he was helping to watch was literally attached to the throne room so it was about as deep into the castle as one could get. Normally he’d be excited about this since it was clearly something big, but when he had made his way to his post he became aware of just how many guards had been called. The hall was very large and had a good amount of entrances, but even for all those entry points the number of guards had seemed large to him. Essentially his entire unit was present, so he was a little chagrined to realize the assignment was nothing special.
Still though, it was a little odd. It spoke to the sheer volume of important people who had been called to this meeting, and part of him fought off a vague sense of unease.
When they had first stood by and allowed entrance, he had watched noble after noble pass through, whispering hurriedly and wondering why they had been summoned, a few looking stoic and calm as if they already knew.
Again he wished he had been stationed inside instead of out here, and he suppressed another sigh. Eavesdropping was one of the perks of the job to be honest, he might not get to make any decisions but at least he got to listen to some of them. Unfortunately, fancy people were usually careful about exactly where their guards were, so even when they paced the hallways and passed him by at his various posts he only caught bits and pieces, never enough to interest him.
It was drilled into the royal guards repeatedly that doing anything with any information you might happen to overhear was treason, and of course Nino had no genuine intentions behind knowing anything, but it was human to wonder. Something to think about other than doors at least.
It had been a little less than two weeks since his escort mission with the princesses, and though he had really tried his best not to expect anything fun he was dying for something interesting again. He had been pushed back to door duty like he had expected once he returned, getting congratulated by his Captain for seeming like he did a pretty good job but not giving him anything better really. He was off the guest rooms at least and had a little more variety than normal, but it was usually doors. Patrol once! But mostly doors.
It wasn’t all dull and he still felt a lot of pride in his job, but he kept reflecting on that huge pinnacle of pride he had felt marching through the gates, bearing his seal and standing tall above the others, even just for a second. He was back to his normal armor and his normal places but he had a taste for it now and he was looking desperately for more opportunities to prove himself. Still though, he had been lucky for even that one shot, he had a feeling he was going to have to be patient.
He had seen the Princess twice since then, though she hadn’t seen him. They weren’t always required to wear their helmets inside the castle since it mostly just served to restrict vision, but one of the times she had passed him he had been forced to be wearing it. Some fancy someone had been visiting and seeing guards at the entrance with all the bits and pieces was impressive, he guessed, made them all look more uniform, but it meant that she had missed him. Not like she should have been looking for him, or like she might have even noticed but still, he had been essentially invisible in a line of identical copies as she went out with her father to greet whoever it was. Earl of whatever, he hadn’t really been paying attention.
The second time he hadn’t been wearing a helmet, or any of his armor actually, and she had missed him again. He had no chance of standing out that time, not like she did, and her gaze had passed right over him.
He had been in town in plain clothes for his own purposes, enjoying some time off and spending a little money he wasn’t used to having yet. He had just bought a toy for his little brother he thought he might like and had been heading back to the castle to either send it or store it until he might see him again, when he got caught up in a large crowd around the castle gate. It didn’t take long to figure that she had caused the disturbance, people of the kingdom calling out to their princess as she made a brief appearance of some kind. She was swarmed with guards obviously and far from the people she waved to, but he thought that she must still enjoy it. He imagined it must be pretty nice to have people crowd to you and call out to you adoringly, but as her eyes passed over him and cast out over all of the people who stood there he thought, maybe not. She stood tall and beautiful and separated, unable to pick out any of the faces or know their names.
There were parts to both sides, he supposed.
He had seen the twins only once, and they had actually been close enough to notice him. They were together, like always, walking obediently behind a pair of handmaidens taking them off for some lesson somewhere. He had been guarding a boring door during a boring day and was actually starting to space out a little when he turned at the sound of someone approaching, waking up instantly to see the two little girls.
It felt kind of silly, but he wanted them to notice him, sad when he saw how quiet and orderly they appeared. They were just children, but not here he guessed, not when their backs were pulled up and straight by the draw of the castle.
They were perfectly practiced, and as they started to pass by him he knew he didn’t have much time to do anything, or even really have the opportunity to. However right as they were walking by, the senior guard he was paired with straightened to attention and gave a formal salute in acknowledgment. Nino quickly copied him, thrilled when Etta looked up at the movement and looked over them both. As soon as her eyes landed on him he gave her his warmest and friendliest smile, and a little nod of his head for good measure.
He couldn’t deny the warmth that shot through him when she recognized him, her face lighting up and smiling back instantly. She waved at him and he risked a little wave too, and another for Ella when her sister got her attention. They only had a brief moment, unable to stop or slow but they told him good morning and said his name, and he said good morning as well. They looked over their shoulders for awhile once they passed him, glancing back a few times more as they walked the long hallway. They whispered to each other and smiled at a memory, hopping a little as they went. And suddenly they were children again.
He smiled thinking about it, trying to focus on his appointed stone hallway but distracting himself. It had made him wonder at what Alya might have done if she had seen him, that she might smile at the memory too. Her teasing goodnight hung in his mind and he shifted his weight again, aware of the fact that she was somewhere inside.
It must be really important then, this meeting. The King and Queen were both in attendance, as well as the entirety of the council and their board of advisers. Alya had entered with her parents from another entrance, he had just heard of them being there from the less important important people who came through his door. He couldn’t imagine the twins being allowed though, not if it was something tense or gruesome.
Nino turned at a sound, any change at all enough to catch his attention when his post was so monotonous. He saw the guard appointed on the other side turn as well, both of them aware suddenly of a distant shouting from inside. Nino barely had time to shoot the other guard a look before a whole rabble of voices picked up in response, a whole crowd of people abruptly trying to be heard. There was a loud booming voice above all others, and then suddenly there was quiet, the room returning to its state of discussion in an instant and he knew that this must be the king.
The other guard raised an eyebrow, making a slight face of ‘yeesh’ before leaning back, both of them returning to their stance but still straining to listen.
It was completely impossible to hear any words, not even when a single voice shouted out in disgust, but the tone none the less worried him. He tried to just mind his business, but his thoughts turned to Adrien. He was definitely inside as well and he wondered if he would tell him if he asked… probably not though. Not like it was any worry of his.
He had managed to see Adrien once so far, and it had been honestly incredible. He had stolen a moment of his time during the night, going to his room after his last shift had ended. He had been in his room alone like he said he would be and seemed ecstatic to see him though he tried to hide it at first. He was quick to give some half-assed pretense to his own guard who was stationed outside and rushed him in, and the moment they were clear he dropped all formality like he did whenever they were alone.
He had clasped him warmly on the shoulder and ran off to grab him a drink, surprising him with his eagerness as they found a moment to just be people, like Adrien sought so desperately. It was a little difficult at first, but again Adrien’s genuine nature always got the better of him. It never took long for him to forget that they were from utterly different places, even as they discussed their differences. They talked about farming and castles and cities and people. They discussed home and harvests and horses and wine, and they talked about fighting too. Nino was unsurprised to learn that Adrien had extensive training as a swordsman, having briefly saw his skill first hand when they had met in the woods what seemed like years ago now though it was only in reality a handful of months.
It had been forced to be brief, but it felt important, and good. It was nice that from the very beginning he had someone who was wholly on his side.
Now though Adrien was alone with whatever was burdening the state, but there was nothing he could do for that. He could listen but he doubted Adrien would speak, and suddenly he hated that he could give so little to him in return. Nearly nothing, except maybe friendship… from time to time.
They were all so far from him. And he was as close as he figured he would ever be. Closer than a farmhand at least, but more distant that a friend.
He could only be so much.
… but that wasn’t that sort of the point of all this?
Nino frowned to himself as he stared out at nothing, only servants in sight as they waited to enter since the meeting was surely drawing to a close. He tightened his grip on his spear and grappled with himself, wondering again just how many rules he was daring to break here. Even his place at this damn door was a risk as far as societal norms were concerned, though for the most part that scandal had simmered down. Still, he should just be happy. And he was! He was grateful, but time and again he found himself wanting more, and wanting to do more and be more. He wanted to be a friend to a lonely prince, and he had already done a lot to be things he shouldn’t so why not? Isn’t that why he had snuck off to see him in the first place?
Ugh.
He was going to get hanged one day.
Nino snapped out of his grumbling commentary at the approach of a murmur, a budding sound building up inside the hall. The other guard he was with turned to face him and Nino mirrored him quickly, preparing to stand by as the nobles cleared the room.
The doors were opened by another luckier pair of guards from inside, both of them a higher rank than he or his companion. Promotions came with the cooler gossip, he supposed.
All four guards stood by in their various positions as people much wealthier than him filed out, and suddenly his perfectly memorized boring stone hallway was crowded with men. Some were old, a few were young, and all of them seemed…
Nino looked around, trying to keep the movement subtle so as not to stick out, but slowly scanning the faces he saw, noting how all of them appeared… unsettled. They all seemed keen to whisper but kept it tucked inside, waiting for another moment alone to discuss things too important for unimportant people to overhear.
Nino refocused as more disconcerted council members shuffled past him, all of them without exception engrossed in thought or some raging emotion they were keeping to themselves. Though the crowd was thick it was eerily devoid of talking, and Nino felt unease crawl beneath his armor.
Another man shifted in discomfort, though the burden he bore on his shoulders was not weighted in chain mail. Instead it was sagged with the mantle he carried, and his neck ached with the ghost of a crown he could not forget.
The Good King sighed, allowing himself a slight expression of frustration, if nothing more. He reached up a weary hand and held his face for a moment, looking at nothing and thinking of everything.
“Why do I feel like the more people who talk the less anything happens…” he heard his daughter mutter nearby, definitely intended for him to overhear and a much deeper sigh built in his chest before his queen spoke for him.
“The voices of the council matter Alya-,”
“Of course they do, the council I have no problem with. It’s the ten men speaking for one opinion each that takes up so much time,” Otis looked up in time to see his daughter sat with her back straight defiantly, matching her mother’s gaze. “How many times do we have to listen to these people repeat themselves? We have said nothing new!”
“Alya!”
“The entire meeting! That entire meeting was three things said five hours ago and a hundred iterations on each!”
“That’s enough,” Otis spoke pointedly, and though Alya’s mouth was open she hesitated, and slowly closed it.
He watched her for awhile more, Marlena looking between them both before standing. She silently fixed her deep purple gown and stepped away, leaving the King with his daughter alone for a moment, the hall deserted except for a few trusted guards.
Otis watched her carefully and was unsure of how he felt about the way that Alya challenged him, refusing to look away even if she remained silent like he had ordered. Defiant in what ways she could be, and he couldn’t decide if he was proud of that or not.
“I understand your frustration Alya,” he said after a while, the first to look away as he usually was between them. “I was always the same, and clearly in some ways I still am. It’s frustrating to go through these paces, but even if the people echo each other we have to listen to each. All of them deserve a chance to speak, and we can not proceed until we have heard them.”
“I know that…” she said slowly, her understanding at war with her impatience, and he understood that too.
“Then exercise it. It is necessary now, soon we won’t have the time to be patient. We must listen while we can listen.”
The lull in conversation was thick with energy, and Otis was bracing himself for whatever Alya had brimming up from beneath the surface of her obedience, when the sound of a heavy door swinging open distracted them both and suddenly he had two incoming targets.
The connecting entrance to the throne room had been opened wide, allowing two little princesses to barrel inside from where they had been playing together with their handmaidens. They stormed by their mother who had gone to let them in, bringing a sudden and desperately needed warmth to the grim hall they wallowed in.
Ella ran forward to climb into her father’s lap, her sister doing the same to Alya who seemed to accept that for now at least her time to argue had been lost. Otis was sure he had not heard the last of her opinions, but by his own advice he knew it was important to hear her too. Just hopefully when she was prepared to be a little more constructive.
Otis lifted up one of his youngest and allowed himself to be distracted by relief, glad to have his family here with him. He had more discussions on this matter to endure, but for now he could just indulge the babble of his twins, preferring this din to the one that had previously dominated the hall. He gently wrangled a wayward lock of his daughter’s hair back into place as she spoke, ignoring her probing questions about the meeting and asking her instead about her games.
The twins took the bait easily, dropping the subject of their failed eavesdropping without much persuading. Alya was still ruminating quietly but did not shrug off her mother’s gentle hand when she came up behind her.
It took Marlena a little effort, seeing as Otis was happy to remain where he was, but after a few gentle pushes she managed to get both Alya and Otis to their feet, the two of them carrying a twin each as she gently guided them to their rooms for some genuine alone time. She did not have much more time to see her husband before he was called away for more arguing, and she wasn’t willing to lose this moment just yet.
Their group moved together towards the side entrance, choosing the most direct path to their rooms instead of the way they had come and allowing their guards to converge and trail behind them, more up ahead standing to the side to allow them to pass. They passed over the cold stone floor and yearned for the warm sunlight their sheltered walk back would give them, and would have been content in their family’s quiet moment had an eager little nine-year-old not suddenly shouted,
“Hello Nino!”
The King looked down at his daughter in his arms with confusion, following her distraction and about to remind her to be polite when he spotted the guard she was practically falling out of his arms to wave at, and the poor guy looked like he was going to fry.
Nino was stood less than five feet away from the entire royal family, having been taken by surprise because he was kind of spacing out, but standing at electrified attention when he realized that the King and Queen would be passing through his watch. He had already been on full alert, straightening himself to stand as tall and firm as he could to look as impressive as the guards around who outranked him. He hated that he had done nothing to fix his appearance and resented that he was not dressed in full armor, having not anticipated their proximity at all. But this?
This was way, way worse.
Nino was stood ramrod straight as Ella excitedly greeted him, Etta now leaning over as well and calling to him too. From behind the great stature of the King he was aware of Alya sliding into view, noting him with a smile that quickly evolved into a smirk as soon as she saw how caught out he looked.
There was a moment where he did nothing, the King and now Queen fully regarding him where he stood, all of them looking at him while he just totally stood there, frozen.
It was the slight hesitation in Ella’s wave that broke him out of it, his heart torn between refusing to move and saying something back, cause was he supposed to?? The rule was speak when spoken to wasn’t it? So-…
“H-hello Your Highness,” he answered quickly, Ella’s face lighting up when he acknowledged her. He tore his eyes away from the powerful presence of the King and smiled as best as he was capable. He gave another to Etta, too scared to risk a wave but bowed instead, sparing another ‘Your Highness’. He thought he might be allowed to lapse into silence, but then Alya spoke up suddenly as well, clearly expecting her own.
“Hello Nino,” she greeted him, smiling as he bowed but only because he seemed so uncomfortable, not for any desire for formality.
“Hello Your Highness,” he said again, getting hung up on a ‘Nice to see you again’ or anything else and deciding to say nothing more. It took everything he had not to squirm, the Queen assessing him and asking her oldest present,
“Do you know this guard?”
They were all still stood in the doorway, the other guards getting tense at the proximity as well and Nino could see them shooting each other glances behind Alya’s back, probably wondering what was happening just like he was.
“Yes Mother,” Alya supplied happily, her smile audible in her voice. “Do you remember our trip out into the field a few weeks ago? Nino was assigned as our personal escort, he made quite an impression.” Alya then stage whispered without really trying to hide anything, saying so that even he could hear, “Do you remember that bunny story the twins were telling?”
“Bunny story?” The King echoed aloud, and Nino thought he might collapse on the spot. To his absolutely profound relief however the Queen did not acknowledge her husbands questioning look, instead turning towards Nino with recognition.
“Oh yes! My daughters spoke of you, the guard who came from the territories. My husband mentioned you as well, I had wondered how you’ve been doing. It is nice to finally meet you.”
Nino wasn’t sure what he looked like in the moment, looking into the Queen’s face and affronted with a powerful intimidation but also… admiration. The Queen was lovely and powerful, looking him in the eye and not shying away. She looked every bit like her children, but also holding a grace that they did not yet have, an elegant purple and gold dress cascading around her and trailing slightly on the stone floor.
The Queen’s gaze was an intense and unwavering as her daughter’s, and though he was taller than her he felt infinitely small in comparison. Still though, she smiled gently and greeted him with interest, like two people passing in a hallway.
“I-it’s an honor, Your Majesty, to meet you,” he barely managed, bowing as deeply as he was capable of.
He could hear Alya’s tittering laugh though he dare not look away from the Queen, and he was sure he looked pathetic in the moment, so desperate to be viewed as impressive as the others but sure he was failing. Then again, he didn’t see any of them getting talked to.
The King hummed suddenly, wrangling his daughter back into place in his arms. Ella looked up at her father, asking innocently, “Can he come with us? I want to ask him things.”
“Yes! Like, have you done anything fun?” Etta piped up.
“Have you found anything new?”
“What were you doing?”
Nino wasn’t entirely sure whether or not he was expected to respond when the King quietly corrected, “He is working right now my dear. Don’t distract the guards from their duties.”
Ella pouted as the King stepped forward, making it clear he intended to enforce the sentiment, even if he himself looked entertained.
The Queen laughed a little as her family started to head out again, sure the guard would appreciate a little room to breathe from underneath their attention. However she did not miss the warm, yet nervous smile he gave to her daughters, nor the tiny wave goodbye he risked when he thought she wasn’t looking.
The twins were beaming over the shoulder of their father and sister, and though she only glanced back once Alya was smiling too, noticing her mother watching her and looking forward down the corridor.
Marlena could hear the guards whispering as they left, no doubt interrogating the new guy about what had transpired, though she hardly thought it was gossip worthy. The new recruit was hurriedly defending himself, and she had to restrain a chuckle as they finally moved out of earshot.
She turned her attention forward again, enjoying the sight of Ella sitting up in her father’s arms telling a story as he just stared at her in amusement.
Etta took turns telling it with her sister as they walked, Alya occasionally nodding her head in confirmation whenever her father looked over at her in confusion.
However to all of their surprise the King eventually frowned.
“He sounds easily distracted,” the King muttered, and Marlena watched as Alya suddenly jumped in, instantly defending him.
“He was alert the entire time father, it’s why he even went with them. He played with them so he could keep a closer eye on them without ruining their fun, and he wasn’t too proud to do it like some of the others may have been. He wanted to make them happy while not compromising their safety, that’s what you want from the guard isn’t it?”
“Yes!” Etta agreed from her sister’s arms. “He said we could play as long as we let him play too, he didn’t make us stop. We found the whole family of rabbits again because he helped.”
“And he gave them such a nice memory,” Marlena added in defense, matching her husbands unsure glance backwards with a slight shrug.
“Hm…” the king hummed again, looking down at Ella as she continued to squirm in his grasp.
“He was very nice to us. I like him.”
“Are the other guards not being nice to you?”
“No they are. But…,” Ella paused thoughtfully, nodding as she said, “He’s nicer. He smiles more.”
Otis hesitated, then decided to say nothing, mulling this over as the twins drifted towards new topics. They did not notice their father’s distraction, as he distantly replayed the shouting and the nothingness of the meeting they slowly left behind them.
His steps felt loud to him, in the corridor.
Heavy.
He thought of those five repeated grating arguments, and accepted that the world around their gentle home was growing more dangerous, more restless. And for his daughters, he wanted them to be happy and safe, chasing pleasant memories of rabbits burrowed in a field before they were too old. Before they were forced to listen in frustration like Alya.
As much as he could let them play he would… without risking them. He and the farmboy were alike, in that way.
---
“N I N O L A H I F F E”
The name was shouted so loud, and so suddenly, that Nino nearly sliced his hand open in a fountain of blood, the sword he was cleaning jerking away from him as he jumped and clattering loudly to the stone floor of his chamber. One of the other guys he shared it with was in there too, sitting on his bed across from him, frozen stock still and staring at him fearfully.
Nino’s heart was instantly racing as the captain’s voice echoed through the guard rooms, and he knew she knew he was in there, and he had absolutely no idea what he had done wrong.
When she yelled his name a second time he scrambled to his feet, skittering into the hallway and nervously barking a reply. “Y-yes Captain!”
The plain stone chambers of the guard were uncharacteristically full, many of the simple wooden doors swinging open so the fellow members of his unit could poke their head out and look at him, and then the captain. However, as soon as they saw the fiery woman stood at the end of the hall with her armored hands planted firmly on her hips they instantly retreated, leaving the new guy to die.
There was a pretty decent handful of frightened looking men behind her as well, a couple gauging whether or not they could make it to their rooms before anything happened but too scared to pass her.
The short woman said nothing else, just standing there in the main chamber at the mouth of the hallway, waiting for him.
She watched him cooly as he approached, Nino unable to keep himself from glancing at her weapon which was, for the moment, still sheathed. He had never seen her without her armor on before and now was no exception, her entire visage terrifying and he was racking his brain for why he was in so much trouble right now.
He stopped about eight feet away from her, hands tight to his side as he stood at attention.
“Why, the hell, is it Lahiffe,” she finally spoke, “That I keep hearing your name, everywhere I go?”
Nino paled slightly, managing a weak and questioning, “Ma’am?”
“For having no solid name I sure have been hearing about it a lot, far more than a member of the guard should be getting mentioned by anybody.” She paused for effect, crossing her arms. “Let alone the Royal Family.”
She examined his expression, unsurprised to see wild confusion running rampant. So she continued, staring him down and speaking firmly.
“You’ve been making noise, and I don’t know what you’ve been doing but you’re sticking out and I can’t really make up my mind whether or not I think that’s a good thing. Only thing I can think of is that special assignment I gave you and now, all of a sudden, I keep catching your name. Even though we’ve done hundreds of these types of jobs Lahiffe, every single day, for the first time since I’ve had this rank,” she paused, drawing in a deep breath and freezing him solid with a look, “I’ve gotten a request.”
You can catch up on AO3 if you’ve forgotten whats happening cause i sure did.
Adrien arrived to school Friday morning on time, not as desperate to be early, but not so un-invested as to be late. He didn’t bother with the quad again, heading straight for class and trying to have no expectations. He couldn’t help but have some sort of hope reserved as he approached the classroom, the fall air chill and biting as he climbed the stairs and crossed the landing that was nearly barren.
Nearly, but not utterly, and Adrien slowed up when he looked ahead and saw Marinette and Alya standing outside the door, talking quietly to themselves.
They were talking tensely, Alya’s expression stoic as she nodded to something the witch had said. Marinette’s posture was tense in a different way, her hands folded in front of her chest as she spoke quickly. He was a short distance away before they noticed him, both girls turning to face him and showing him clearly that something was on their mind.
By the time he joined them he was already worried.
“What’s up?” he asked plainly, looking between the two of them. His eyes landed first on Marinette, but she looked away, pulling her fingers through one of her pigtails and failing to make eye contact. Alya however did not, and met Adrien’s gaze without beating around the bush.
“We don’t really know yet but Marinette says Ms. B is nervous. She stopped us when we walked in and asked us to wait outside for you and to let her know when you were with us. That’s about all we know.”
“Ms. B wanted us to wait outside?” Adrien repeated, looking between them again until Marinette finally looked up at him and nodded.
“The whole class is tense,” Marinette reported, smoothing at her dress like her hands were anxious and searching for something to do. He put a hand on her shoulder sympathetically, knowing too much of the same negative emotion could be unpleasant for her. “Ms. Bustier is clearly worried and I think everyone can tell that somethings wrong.” She grimaced, huffing a little as she continued. “Chloe is starting rumors and people are starting to notice that Nino only made it through half of class. They’re asking where he is.”
“Obviously we’re wondering the same thing,” Alya chimed in, folding her arms and keeping an eye on the door. “The difference is though that we’re not going to fault him for it and other people probably will. Him joining class is the most interesting thing that’s happened in a while, so even him not being here is making him the center of attention. Pretty sure that’s the last thing Ms. B wants, and now she wants to talk to us alone.”
“You think it’s about Nino? Maybe it’s something else, something about class.”
Adrien said it without any real confidence, and from the looks on their faces they clearly believed it as little as he had meant it.
People had tried to be casual and distant when he was around, but now that he was absent it was a ripe time for rumors to start. It didn’t surprise him that Chloe was getting things moving now that he was out a second day in a row, and it just meant that when he did come back, because Adrien knew that he would, it was just going to be that much harder.
Mr. Damocles had sprung Nino’s enrollment on everyone and done it matter-of-factly, then like a whirlwind he had shown up the next day, bailed halfway through and never returned. Naturally students were going to start talking.
They stood for a moment and said nothing, wondering what their involvement was, if their assumption was correct.
“Should we tell her that you’re here?” Marinette said after a while, shifting her weight from foot to foot as she felt his trepidation.
“I suppose yeah,” Adrien murmured. He didn’t know what she wanted, but the only way to know was to ask.
Adrien opened the door only enough to pop his head in, the sound of people talking amongst themselves rising to meet him now that the bridge between places was opened. Ms. Bustier was standing by her desk, but looked up to regard the door the second it opened. When she saw it was him she held up a hand, motioning for him to remain outside but acknowledging his presence.
They shut the door and waited, having nothing left to say to each other as they stood aside patiently, the hall and quad now completely empty except for themselves.
Adrien jumped when the door opened, Alya still managing to chuckle despite the circumstance and he shot her a grimace. Marinette giggled a little as well, but they turned to attention as Ms. Bustier stepped into the hallway, her hooves clattering as she cleared the doorway and closed the door behind her.
“Good morning everyone,” she greeted them as a whole, the teacher fussing with her hair before clearing her throat.
Marinette fidgeted uncomfortably.
They murmured their good mornings but offered nothing else, waiting patiently for her to continue. After a short time she seemed to take a deep breath, speaking calmly.
“Thank you for waiting for me, I wanted to speak with you all as a group before class began. I have a… sensitive request.”
“Sensitive?” Alya echoed, though her tone wasn’t entirely surprised. Everyone was just waiting.
“Yes…” she hesitated, and the kids were stunned to watch her stop, very carefully considering her next words.
Finally she sighed, folding her hands.
“I know the three of you have noticed your new classmate’s absences. As you have likely already assumed Nino is struggling to adjust and is having a very difficult time. I fear him attending school so soon after having been brought here was a mistake on my part, I had been too eager to introduce him… as a result he was overwhelmed, and is unable to attend class.”
She paused again, carefully gauging their reactions. Alya and Marinette both looked somber, but Adrien was still waiting.
“I know your interactions were brief,” she continued after a moment, looking between each other them, “but I also know that they helped him. I saw the way you girls engaged him when he first came in and how receptive he was to it, excited to be making friends. And you Adrien, you stayed with him and knew when not to push or intrude and I know how prepared you are to do as I asked. And I wonder now if this is too much to ask of students but… I’ve done what I can, and I’m afraid that I can’t help him the way that his peers possibly could. That was in part why I was so quick to introduce him. I knew he needed to make connections of some kind… but I was too heavy handed.”
Ms. Bustier stood before them, asking them gently.
“You have every right to refuse if the idea makes you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, but I assure you that Nino is a wonderful and kind boy, and he would never hurt anyone. I tried to give him space, but I’m not sure that’s what is best for him now. It is informal, and probably considered inappropriate by most to ask children to step up like this but… all I’m asking is that you visit him.”
She looked between the three of them, intently sorting through their glances and body posture to gauge their reactions.
“I think he needs-,”
“I’ll go,” Adrien answered immediately, shifting his weight on his feet and looking to all the world like he was prepared to go right that second, looking up at his teacher and speaking quickly. “I’ll sit with him Ms. B, I just need to know the room. I can go now, if I can be excused I mean, please.” He added this as an afterthought, glancing once towards the classroom he had promptly forgotten. School seemed so unimportant right now.
“Not so fast Adrien, wait just a moment.” Ms. Bustier reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, enough pressure to make it clear he was to stay still. “I know you’re eager to help, but this is very serious. He’s panicking and unwell. You can’t just go in full speed; you have to be gentle.”
Adrien looked up at her with wide eyes, probably intent on defending the fact that he always intended to be careful. The girls behind him began to murmur, and Caline hesitated to explain. But she needed them to be wise.
She braced herself, silently begging that they would understand.
“We… haven’t extensively covered lycanthropy in our classes, something I now regret but…” she sighed. “It’s too late to fix. I can only ask that you all be as understanding as possible, and recognize how difficult this must be for him.”
The girls fell silent, Adrien continuing to look on unflinchingly. Only waiting for the moment he was allowed to leave. Ms. B nodded to herself, attempting to explain delicately.
“You know how shifting between forms typically works, how it is tied to intention and a sense of self. Changing however works differently for everyone… and young Nino has no experience with such things. He has no background knowledge to support him, and is not in a mindset to listen when I try and speak to him. With werewolves the moon represents an unavoidable transformation, but it is not the only time they can change over. And he…” she hesitated, folding her hands across her stomach as she sorted through the words. She looked away from all of them, looking briefly to the floor.
“He is not coping… well, with the changes. As of now, he cannot change back. I’m sure you can imagine, for someone who has never consciously changed before that this would be very… startling.”
She wanted to keep her eyes away from their faces, thinking now of her lost, struggling student buried in the back of the school. She didn’t want to see fear, or unease, but what could she expect of them. She knew how the world viewed people like him. She knew-…
She looked up when no one spoke. And felt her heart almost pause.
As no one reacted.
By the time she gathered the courage to look at them she saw the three of them standing resolutely, something immeasurably empathetic on their faces. Caline straightened as she looked at them, able to feel as her burden slipped slightly from her fingers, held up unexpectedly by the strength of children.
Adrien still stood taunt as a wire, as ready to go as before, if not suddenly more so. She looked over at the girls, Alya’s expression the hardest to judge but Marinette’s painfully kind. She expected, somehow, for them to be scared of him…
But even now they just wanted to help.
“Where is he staying?” Adrien asked again, scooting slightly from his position. He glanced again in the direction he remembered Nino fleeing, that hollow ache he had felt before surging again.
“He’s…-,” she paused, looking between them before settling back on Adrien, seeming a little stunned. “He’s in the empty wing, all the way down on the far side. Room 217, I believe.”
She quickly put a hand on Adrien again to keep him from rushing off, firm as she reiterated, “You need to be gentle. He isn’t going to want to see anyone I imagine but… we can’t leave him alone either. I’m not even sure he’ll be able to speak to you, but I know he can still listen if you keep him company.” She looked to the girls to make sure they understood this advice was meant for them as well, sending them along as well in part to keep Adrien from being over eager. With Marinette’s added intuitiveness and Alya’s abilities… it seemed wise. “He would demand that you leave if he could, so please try not to push it and don’t crowd him. His dog will be on the defensive, so don’t push him either.”
“Yes mam’,” the kids responded immediately, and Caline couldn’t help but feel another wave of guilt.
“I shouldn’t be sending you at all but… seeing his peers might…-,” she stopped, humming slightly as she seemed to reconsider. As soon as Adrien noticed her doubt though she could feel his shoulders tense up, and she was made aware of the fact that at this point, she probably couldn’t stop him.
“We won’t push it Madame,” Alya spoke up, her voice calm and earnest. “Marinette can tell us if it’s too much, and we’ll leave before too long. It’s just a visit, we’ll be careful.”
“He isn’t dangerous,” she repeated, almost as a reflex, but she needed to be realistic too… he was cornered.
“I know Ms.,” Adrien assured her, stating it so firmly that… after a moment…
She relented.
“Okay… you are excused from class for this, we’re reviewing the previous lesson as it is. Don’t stay for too long but… you may go.”
The moment she lifted her hand Adrien turned on his heel, already knowing the hallway she meant and heading straight there. Ms. Bustier may have said something else but… Adrien wasn’t in the mood for waiting anymore.
He didn’t run, but he moved quickly down the walkway, aware of the fact that the girls were rushing to keep up with him but more intent on getting away from Ms. B. He didn’t want to give her the opportunity to change her mind, even if part of him knew that she was the authority on this in the end he just…
He needed to go. It was just the right thing to do now. He was going to listen, he wasn’t going to force his way in but… somebody needed to go. Somebody needed to tell him that he wasn’t a coward.
“Adrien wait!” Marinette’s voice cut through, jogging to get ahead of him as they made it to the mouth of the abandoned hallway, Adrien turning quickly past her and starting down it anyways.
It was instantly colder in the unpopulated sections of the campus, no body heat or traffic to keep it from feeling completely empty. The lights were on, but it may as well have been dim, the long walls filled with empty bulletin boards and locked classroom doors making it clear that no one came down here very often. Now suddenly however it had three inhabitants the trio forced to match Adrien’s urgency and he continued further into the school.
“Listen I know you want to help but we can’t run in, we’re going to scare him.”
“I’m not going to break the door down I’m going to knock,” Adrien defended himself, trying not to be annoyed. When he looked at her though Marinette was frowning, shooting a hard look up at him. He only matched her for a second more before he just focused on the hall, part of him sort of wishing he was allowed to do this alone. After a moment of his silence Marinette huffed slightly, turning to Alya instead. “We shouldn’t go all the way in, we should stand by the door in case he wants us to leave.” Adrien kept walking undeterred, the girls falling to either side of him.
“He’s going to want us to leave the second we get there,” Alya answered softly, Adrien staring ahead. “We’re going to have to stick it out a little but just, warn us if he gets too upset.”
As they walked Adrien shot a small glance to the side, checking Marinette’s face. He was never sure how far out her perception went but…
He didn’t see her posture tighten until they hit the second hallway, moving down it now as they each checked the numbers. By the time they were most the way down, past a dozen or so shuttered, dusty doorways, her lips were pressed into a tight line.
The girls allowed Adrien to lead, all of them prepping themselves in one way or another as they drew near, Adrien taking a deep breath as he ran through what he could possibly say. He didn’t come up with much when he saw the faded 217 painted on an old placard outside the furthest door, a thin strip of light shining onto the tile. They all shared a glance as they realized that it was ajar, and despite their determination…
Everyone paused.
Adrien took a moment, leaning forward to listen carefully. He didn’t hear anything distinctive, save what suddenly felt like a deafening silence. After a brief moment, he heard a soft click, like a claw on tile. Then nothing again.
They were waiting on him, and Adrien thought back to something he had thought before.
Nino was the bravest person in the world…
So he tried to be a little like him.
The knock on the door felt like the loudest thing for miles, but Adrien didn’t wait for a response he knew wouldn’t come. For better or for worse he gently pushed the door in, taking three steps forward before he heard the growl.
Adrien froze, his hand locked on the door handle as his heart rate scampered. He instinctively looked towards the sound, an apology or an excuse about to bubble out from him before he looked down, taking in a lot at once.
The room was scattered and weird feeling, desks barricaded against the walls and windows and the air thick with intensity. Adrien barely had time to notice the torn, discarded clothes the Shepherd stood upon before his hands were in the air warding against the animal that took a threatening step forward, a deep growl resonating from its chest.
“It’s me its me!” Adrien spoke up immediately. “Carter don’t, I’m not gonna come in all the way okay, you just stay there.”
Adrien shimmied enough to let the girls slowly poke their head in, Marinette immediately cooing softly to the dog who was dutifully on guard.
“Carter it’s okay! It’s just us, we’re okay. We just came to check in, I promise. Everything’s okay.”
She spoke softly and crouched low, smiling as sweetly as she could. Adrien had to resist the sigh of relief when Carter tilted his head, the Shepherd shifting in position slightly and looking at the witch, then back to him, then back to the witch.
Adrien stepped to the side again to let her come further in but froze in fear when the dog zeroed back in, a growl starting to build back up before Marinette was cooing again, gently appealing to the animal.
While she had his attention Adrien used the moment to scan the room, his hands still up as he looked through as much as he could in what light the windows provided.
It was… dismal, to say the least, and he fought off another wave of pity he was trying to avoid. The cabinet… the bed… the clothes heaped on the ground. It all painted a horrible picture, something he had been obsessing over ever since he ran away from him. A few trays of food lay largely uneaten not far from the door, trails of pieces dotted across the floor as if chunks of it had been dragged and taken farther in. As far as he could see though, there was no one else there. Marinette was still working on the dog, so he braved another step in, craning his neck to look around the space. It didn’t make sense for Carter to be here alone… he was clearly protecting something.
It was only when the dog looked behind him that Adrien thought to look under, the animal checking the darkness for something he couldn’t hear before looking back towards them, taking an unsure step backwards.
Right…
Adrien took a shaky breath and looked over at the girls, both of whom were focused on the same space he was. The cramped, low shadow of the bed frame. Alya looked over at him from her place by the door, and after a moment everyone took another slow movement further in.
Adrien spoke as he moved, never going towards the bed but just allowing the others some space, Marinette electing to settle on her knees and focus on Carter who seemed conflicted.
“Hey… hey man um…” he hesitated, cursing internally on being as unsure as ever. He looked to the girls briefly for help, but he knew he had to take the lead. “Listen I know you probably don’t want to see anyone right now but, we didn’t want to just go to class without coming to see you. I uh, I know you can’t really say much right now but, we just wanted to stop by for a second. Let you know about class and stuff. Maybe just sit, for a sec. If that’s okay with you.”
The silence was thick, Marinette scooting forward a little and trying to keep a smile for Carter who looked like he was getting more agitated. The poor dog whined and padded his paws on the cool ground, checking into the hiding place obsessively, its entire body tense.
“Adrien,” Marinette whispered suddenly, and it took him a moment to look away.
When he did he saw Alya now crouched on her knees as well, both of them making a small gesture for him to mimic them. It was awkward, but he slowly got down as well, keeping a careful eye on the dog.
Adrien lowered his hands into his lap, watching as Carter started to pace, getting closer and closer to the bed itself protectively. He saw Marinette fidget a little in discomfort, balling her dress slightly in her hands in the corner of his eye… so he tried again.
Nino didn’t hear anything that Adrien was saying, not really, not in any genuine way. Of course he could hear him, everything was so much. So loud. But it didn’t mean anything.
‘Nino?’ Carter said for the dozenth time, whining desperately as he paced out in the open, fighting the urge to crawl underneath the bed with him where he had been waiting before. ‘Nino what do I do? Do you want me to make them leave? Do you want me to go with you? What do you…-,’ Carter hesitated, only his paws visible to his owner as they skittered and shifted. He ducked his head down low again so they could see each other, asking tensely again, ‘What do you want me to do? Nino?’
He didn’t answer, though some part of him wanted to. Carter was so distressed… the loyal animal torn between what he had been commanded to do and what he wanted to do. All he wanted to do was help. All they wanted to do was help.
But Nino had no idea how to be helped.
He wanted to say something… as Adrien tried to talk calmly and Marinette spoke softly he wanted to say something.
He thought maybe there was something building up in him, whether it was to scream at them to leave or to offer some kind of apology he wasn’t sure… but the second he shifted his weight he was aware again of the too long limbs, of the thick, suffocating fur. And what he might have said died in him, and a grating whine racked his body.
Adrien’s rambling nothings faltered, and Nino withered further into himself. He couldn’t stop the second whine, or the shake of the third, but he could still feel ashamed of it. Ashamed of all of it.
He shook in anger and in embarrassment in his tiny scrap of shelter, his shame mounting higher and higher as the others turned to whispering to themselves, to each other about him.
‘Stay away!’ Carter demanded again, Nino able to see his paws scrabble at the tile as he threatened to dart forward, growling again. ‘Stay back! Stay away!’
“Alya wait, I don’t know if this is a good idea-,” Adrien’s voice sounded again, but he was cut off by someone else, the third in the party speaking for the first time.
“No this is good for him. He needs this.”
‘Stay away! STOP!’ Carter threatened again, breaking his vindication once again and barking threateningly. Nino could only see very little of what was happening, Carters tense claws spread wide on the tile just in front of his hiding space. Beyond him now Nino could just see dark leggings, crouched on the floor a ways in front of them and slowly getting closer. He shook when he saw her hands bend, her red tinted hair falling softly into view as she ignored Carter’s threats, leaning down to look beneath the bed frame.
Nino felt himself make some strangled sound, like a cry or a shout or something else all broken and pieced together. He didn’t want her to look at him.
He didn’t want to see her flinch.
He recoiled physically when her sharp, hazel eyes came into view, looking right at him from behind her glasses. Her dark gradated curls framed her face, her expression as curious and as passive as it had been when they were introduced. They had spoken so briefly, but she had left a searing impression with the things she said. And just like then she refused to look away, that foreign intensity cutting into him.
“Alya you’re upsetting him,” Marinette’s voice suddenly warned, but Alya didn’t turn. Not even Carter, only a few feet away from her and threatening to bite if she even moved an inch didn’t faze her. She just kept watching him, a playful smile forming across her face.
“Hey, that’s not so bad. It looks natural so that’s good.” She looked away from his eyes to examine the rest of him, undeterred when he pressed into the wall in some desperate attempt to disappear.
“Alya-,” Marinette warned again, sounding tense, but Alya didn’t move, fighting a bigger smile now.
“It’s not easy to do,” she continued, “I used to be bad at it too, but if you wanted, I could teach you.”
Carter was still tense, but Nino wouldn’t tell him what he needed him to do. He couldn’t bite, he shouldn’t bark, but he wanted nothing more than to bark and bark. Because something was weird again.
The feeling hit them first, the fur along their backs stiffening and standing on edge. It was subtle, and almost impossible to notice, but something almost like static preceded a sudden shift ahead of them.
Alya looked Nino in the eyes when she did it, letting it happen quickly and effortlessly and in a single, fluid motion, just to prove a point. She couldn’t imagine what kind of grueling awful fight he must have put up before ending up like this. It was important for him to see it done right, she believed.
She was so attuned to the sensation that it was hard to even feel it sometimes. Her mother once compared shifting to putting on a cloak, once you were used to it. You could feel something glide over you and touch your skin, and then suddenly you were running. The transition was so quick there was nothing really separate enough to focus on, only the change in height and perspective the truly noticeable things to her.
As soon as it was done she settled onto the tile, spreading out a little so he could see her, letting her tails fan out behind her. The wolf was hyper-focused on her laying there, breathing heavily and scrabbling slightly forward but she didn’t run. The fox just made a show of stretching out her paws, clicking her claws on the tile and swishing her tails out in the air, both of them.
‘What is happening, why does this keep happening?’ Carter was suddenly audible, and Alya turned her attention away from Nino for the first time at the new voice. The poor Shepherd was losing his grip, whining uncontrollably now as he looked at her.
‘It’s okay Carter, this is all fine. Your boy is doing just fine.’
Carter jerked when the strange fox answered him, his head titling to the side in confusion. He huffed and puffed briefly for a moment, accusing her directly now that he knew it was an option.
‘What are you doing? Go away! Nino doesn’t want anybody right now! He said get out!’
‘I’m not leaving yet,’ Alya answered simply, ‘And if he wants me to leave he can tell me himself, right Nino?’ The kitsune turned back to him, laying her head down to peer more easily beneath the bed.
‘I… you…-,’ there was a pause. Both Carter and Alya looked down into the darkness, watching the pair of bright golden eyes as they swept uneasily over the two-tailed fox. ‘You…’
It was a fox, at least that’s what it looked like. Clearly before it had been a girl, but now it was a lithe red fox, the only truly unnatural thing about it being its strange tails. Both tails were fully formed and independent, though they tended to move harmoniously. She wasn’t one solid color of anything, her fur along her chest and the bottom of her muzzle a light cream color, the rest a mix of reds. A charm of some kind dangled on her chest, a necklace with a heavy opalescent stone swaying gently in place, ruffling the fur there. When he looked at it he felt something odd, like a distant, almost unplaceable ringing in his ears.
Without meaning to his ears swiveled atop his head, straining slightly to focus on the note it exuded. He pulled forward slightly, staring at it, but was only broken from it by the fox’s sharp muzzle suddenly dropping over it, glaring at him slightly.
‘My eyes are up here, thanks,’ she snickered, enjoying how the wolf drew back and seemed caught off guard. The second he was no longer looking at it the note vanished… and he blinked at her uncertainty.
‘Can you…?’ He trailed off, fighting between his urge to hide and this sudden… lifeline.
‘Hear you?’ She finished for him, and somehow, he could tell she was smiling. ‘Yes, and your dog too, now. I’m not as good with it as you are but, when I’m like this its easier. I can’t hear him all the time like you can, though I’m probably better than the others.’
‘What are you?’ Nino demanded bluntly, moving closer to the edge just slightly, a little at a time. Alya and Carter both scooted backwards, allowing him some space. ‘How did you do that? So easily?’
‘I’m a Kitsune,’ she answered. ‘I can’t say that I’m exactly like you, I’m not but, I am a shapeshifter like you. So is Adrien but, I’ve never seen him use it. He can’t do it all the time like us.’
Kitsune… the word echoed in his head. The textbook entry from class seemed to echo back to him, every instance feeling years apart. He’d been stuck like this for days now… the uncomfortable anxiety of the class suddenly so much better than this.
‘I didn’t mean to,’ he said, his ears pressing flat against his skull, a whine building in his throat. ‘I didn’t want to, I tried not to it just-,’
‘It’s okay Nino. It’s okay that this happened.’ When he shot his head up to glare at her she flexed her paws in a placating gesture that still came across. ‘I know it doesn’t feel that way I know it’s all messed up but it’s okay that it happened. You can go back and forth whenever you want. We’re not supposed to be one or the other.’ She titled her head and the fox peered at him intensely. ‘We’re supposed to be both.’
‘No I’m not!’ he suddenly barked at her, flinching at how heavy his teeth felt as they bared sharply without his intention, but he didn’t back down. The growl in his chest was so loud to him he could barely articulate the thought. ‘I was supposed to be me! I was always me! I am not an animal!’
Carter hurried to back off, and though they seemed so far outside of it he was aware of the fact that both Adrien and Marinette were on their feet. Alya, however, did not move.
‘Well what are you then?’ she spoke plainly, the creature completely still as it regarded him. ‘Human?’
The growl faltered, dying down as the fox refused to shift her gaze from him, looking him over pointedly again.
When he went quiet she seemed to relax, tension she had been trying to conceal slipping away.
When she spoke again her words were softer.
‘You aren’t. And you’re right, you’re not an animal either. You’re the same thing you were before.’
She didn’t wait to respond, instead turning her head to look at Carter. The dog was watching her anxiously, fidgeting in place as she talked to him.
‘Carter? Do you know?’
‘What?’ he asked, on his feet and shaking a little. ‘What? I don’t understand.’
The fox remained calm, retaining control of the situation.
‘Do you know what he is?’
‘Nino!’ He responded instantly, relief flooding through him and his tail starting to wag for the first time. He knew that one, he knew the answer! ‘He’s Nino!’
‘Yeah,’ she answered, her muzzle parting slightly in that foxy smile she had, turning back to look underneath the bed at the wolf who lay there. ‘He’s Nino. He was before, and he still is now and that’s not different.’
‘You don’t even know me…’ Nino muttered wretchedly, his heavy angled head resting on the ground again, getting quiet.
‘I don’t,’ she agreed, resting her head on the ground as well. ‘But I’m really looking forward to it.’
Though neither of them truly spoke aloud the words seemed to hang in the air around them, settling into him where he cowered… where he hid. As always it was too big, too much but… he looked at the strange fox.
Who did not cower. Who did not flinch.
‘Why aren’t you scared of me?’ he asked, the same question always ringing in his head, but he didn’t expect the fox to huff like she did, going so far as to even roll her eyes.
‘I hate to break it to you Nino, but you’re not all that scary.’ Her tails flicked mischievously as she backed up again. ‘You’re kind of baby cheeked and polite, and poofy and under a bed. Not exactly the stuff of nightmare.’
She grinned at him and pulled further away, drawing him closer and closer to the edge of the bed as he moved up into the space she allowed. The tip of his muzzle was now visible in the light, his eyes still that intense golden color as he watched her.
‘You’re making fun of me,’ he finally answered, incredulously. When she nodded in confirmation he huffed, a low growl of irritation making her laugh an odd chittering laugh.
He huffed as she jumped to her feet, seeming to enjoy getting a rise out of him. And he wanted to be angry, or annoyed or something else but…
They were just talking. He held onto it like a string in the dark, desperate not to tug too tight and separate it from the surface. It was something… normal, as close to normal as he could possibly get. And as ashamed as he might be he didn’t want to be alone with it again.
Even if he was a monster, so was she.
‘S-show me how you did it. Please. I can’t, I’ve tried.’ He crawled forward again, nervously moving a paw out into the open, trying not to look at it. He didn’t want them to see… but it was pointless. It’s not like they didn’t already know…
‘It’s not just one trick, you might not be able to do it right away but you don’t have to be freaked out about it. You’re gonna get it, okay? But you won’t be able to get a grip on it unless you’re more stable.’
‘How am I supposed to do that? Ms. B kept saying that she said just be calm but I can’t.’ He slid another paw out into the open, and after another moment’s hesitation he slowly started to crawl out, staying as small and as folded in on himself as possible. Alya backed off a little but Carter quickly ran to his side, hovering helplessly as the beast shook on its paws.
Nino stood there shamefully, unable to look at them all as he felt them staring. Adrien and Marinette were still standing by the open door, looking on tensely at the silent conversation they could not hear, simply having faith that Alya was saying something they couldn’t. The kitsune herself was sitting up straight, watching him.
‘How am I supposed to be calm with this?’ he asked, his shame eating at him. ‘What am I supposed to do?’
‘You’re just getting started Nino. Right now, you’re not okay. You’re not a wolf because somethings wrong with you, you shifted because you lost your grip. With shapeshifters its easy to get lost in between. You lost touch with you, not humanity. If you knew what you were and who you were you could be either form you wanted, at the drop of a hat. Or some spot in between, who knows.’ She raised a paw, gesturing loosely at his clothes that still lay discarded on the ground. ‘What you did, it probably hurt. It’s not supposed to be like that, it won’t be if you practice it. But… I’m sorry.’
She paused suddenly, the strange stone she wore swaying as she took a quick, shallow breath.
‘It’s not something you can do instantly, it’s not like a spell or a trick. It isn’t something you’ve got to… do,’ she struggled to explain, her front paws needing the ground slightly. But she looked him in the eyes regardless when he looked up to meet her. ‘It’s all built in, we’re both fluid, but that means if you start losing focus things can get more difficult to maintain. At least, that’s how it is for me. We’re not exactly the same, in fact we’re mostly different but…’ she paused again, huffing in irritation.
She took a deep breath, trying again, her tails swaying behind her.
‘You’re stuck. You said you’ve been trying but that’s cause you’re trying to escape something, and you can’t. This,’ and she nodded her head towards him, ‘isn’t something to run away from. So it starts with accepting that this, no matter how much it scares you, is part of it now. You can’t be Nino without it anymore and being on two legs doesn’t change that. No matter what you look like.’
… there wasn’t a response. He didn’t have one to give as he cowered in front of them all. He was exposed in this borrowed spot he hid in, flailing for that fleeting piece of string.
‘Nino?’
Carter leaned into his side, still shorter even when his boy was folded in on himself so tightly. He pressed all of his heat and all of his worry into his dense, layered fur and leapt up slightly to nudge his muzzle with his own, vying for his attention. ‘Please talk to me…’
‘… yeah? Buddy?’ Nino finally addressed him, feeling a pang of guilt when the Shepherd’s ears pricked up.
He stared at him with wide, dark eyes for a while, open and honest in the way only he was capable of.
‘I don’t mind it when you’re like this.’
He let his tail wag slowly, keeping his attention and hoping that it helped. The tall, dark beast stared back at him, and he could feel him breathing deeply.
‘I know buddy.’
‘We were waiting,’ Carter continued, looking briefly towards Alya before looking back to his boy. ‘We were waiting for it to be okay. You said that, maybe this wasn’t okay, but she says that it is. She said its supposed to happen. So as long as you are still Nino, that’s okay then right?’
The dog stared at him intently, desperately trying to understand and hoping he was right. So much of what was said was so confusing to him, but after all the talking was done he kept thinking that he must be right. That he must have been right the whole time.
‘I-…,’ Nino hesitated, and after a moment he forced himself to move, though he tried hard to avoid it. He copied Carter’s gesture, nudging him awkwardly. Carter’s tail wagged harder in response.
He couldn’t help the sigh, depending on Carter’s weight to focus him. ‘I don’t really feel like myself right now…’
‘… can I help?’
Nino looked at him, and for the first time in days, felt something vaguely on the edge of something warm. Something positive.
Something from before.
‘You’re already helping Carter… just stay with me please. I-… I’m trying to figure this out.’
‘She said she can help,’ Carter reminded him, his tail wagging steadily now, so relieved to be moving forward. He looked to Alya again excitedly and passed her to the others; the sweet-smelling girl and… the cat. But he allowed it, it was helping. As long as they were helping, then he’d let them stay. They were giving him something he couldn’t, and he was giving everything he had.
‘Yeah,’ Nino eventually answered, though he was less sure. He had to believe in something though… he didn’t want to be a coward. He didn’t want to hide… he looked back to the fox and stared at her enviously, knowing she wasn’t ashamed in the slightest.
She was something else, just like all of them, but they weren’t hiding. She wasn’t hiding, and she slipped over just like he did, just as fast and as completely. There was no hesitation for her, nothing to be scared of… she knew exactly what she was. She wasn’t lost at all…
‘You’re saying… that it’s because I’m scared that it happened? Scared of myself?’
Alya locked eyes with him unflinchingly, but this time, he didn’t look away.
‘Something like that, yeah. It’s part of it. The more scared of yourself you got the less like you you felt. I bet that all kept wearing down, until you lost track of yourself entirely.’ She tilted her head slightly. ‘Right?’
‘Something like that…’ he agreed.
‘I know it must sound like nothing to you but… it’s the truest way I can put it. The shifting itself is easy, your body can do it naturally, like jumping or stretching or breathing. All it would take eventually is the smallest intention and you could slip right into it, because it’s just something you do. It’s part of you. But if you don’t have something concrete to build around, you’ll be too at mercy to your state of mind to control yourself. You’d flicker back and forth and part way and back like a light switch. And eventually you’d just fizz out.’ She put a paw on the ruined remains of his shirt. ‘And get stuck.’
For the first time since she had shifted, she approached him. She made sure to do it slowly, every step measured and gentle as she did it, continuing to talk.
‘You are your own landmark. Whether I’m in this form or my other one or anything else the only thing that is always true is that I’m always Alya. Shapeshifters have to be completely sure of who they are, because if we are then our appearance doesn’t matter.’
The kitsune stopped when she was only two feet away from him. He numbly found himself trying to recall if he had ever seen a red fox that big, but she still felt tiny to him, smaller still than Carter and craning to look up at him. When she was this close… he couldn’t help but notice the little spot of dark red fur above one eye, perfectly mimicking her beauty mark.
His tail moved slightly, having slowly drawn out from underneath him and starting to sway just a little at the observation. As soon as he noticed he tried to stop it but found with a wave of embarrassment that he wasn’t sure how. It was funny though, if anything could be right now.
He wondered if he had anything that stayed the same… even now.
‘Thanks Mufasa…’ he mumbled after a moment, and his tail swished a little more when she really turned her head at that one.
He wasn’t really sure what expression he managed but he couldn’t help the huff that was almost like a weak spirited chuckle, or some approximation. ‘Remember who you are… you know, like the Lion King?’
He barked out an odd weary sound that he knew was as close to a laugh as he could get, enjoying despite everything the baffled expression he knew he would get. He clung to his stupid joke like he had before… days ago in the classroom when he was trying his best. This one might not have landed but, it was for him more than anything, and he held on to the spirit it gave him.
‘You’ll have to explain that one, I guess,’ she relented after a moment, and though she said nothing of it, she enjoyed her own wash of relief. Nino was still just barely shaking, being held up by the weight of his dog but… he was familiar. Back to that great, unimaginable effort. Just doing his best to survive.
Nino felt… frayed, still split apart and scattered but… it was something just this side of hopeless. He had been unraveled but he was gripping some of the strings, dragging them towards him and fumbling them in the dark. He moved a paw and did what he could not to ignore the feeling of the pads against the tile but… but to at least not flinch. To not run away.
He forced himself to look up, looking down the dusty cluttered class room and towards two others… two others who came.
Adrien met his eyes immediately, the boy pulling up straight and watching him with that exact same concern as he had in the lunch room. It was powerful, and empathetic and more than he had earned, more of a testament to him as a person then anything. Caring enough about the new kid enough to come… and to bring help.
He hadn’t meant to shut them out, Marinette ringing the edges of her dress in her hands as she suffered through the ordeal. It was just that… he had been far away. And Alya knew somehow how to come and meet him there. But that didn’t mean the others hadn’t gone so far too…
He couldn’t forget that.
‘Hey…’ he said, though he understood that he couldn’t hear him. Alya turned to look back at them as well, moving aside in surprise when Nino suddenly stepped passed her.
Carter hurried to shadow him, still diligently supporting him as Nino took a few shaky steps forward, focusing on meeting them halfway.
He nearly stumbled but Carter held him, coaching him quietly on which foot to move next, helping him adjust to the movement without having to be asked. Nino was embarrassed to have to look down at his feet but… he was passed that now. He didn’t have it in him to be ashamed of it, he just did his best to get there.
When he looked up again Adrien was crouching on one knee, Marinette copying him quickly and staring at him intensely. Her eyes were wide and watching… and he noticed, dully, that her eyes were wet.
‘I’m sorry,’ he whined, looking back at her. Like everything, he didn’t fully understand her… but he had seen enough to realize that she must have been there with him. Aware on at least some level what he was feeling. So, he hoped she could tell now that he was sorry for that.
She smiled weakly, and his tail answered with that same, subdued sway.
He looked back to Adrien and saw that he was offering a smile too, but behind his eyes there was a whirlwind he couldn’t gauge. “Hey man,” the boy offered, Nino’s ears flicking at the actual sound of it since so much had essentially been said silently. Adrien laughed a little, the sound breathless. “It’s really good to see you. I- uh… I’ve been saving you a seat.”
Carter looked between Nino and the cat a little warily but knew better than to make a fuss of it now. Despite whatever the Shepherd might believe…
He owed him.
‘Thank you,’ Nino offered back, trying to make some kind of soft sound so Adrien would at least know he had been answered. When the boy smiled he knew that the message had made it across, and he resolved that when he got things pulled back together, that he was going to do something to make it up to him. To all of them, for their kindness towards someone they barely even knew.
