Work Text:
“For page eighteen, what if we split the panels like this?” Nathaniel scribbled a few boxes on a page of his sketchbook before holding it out to Marc. He had been working on several configurations even before Marc came over to his house. His parents being out meant that he could spread his supplies out as wildly as he wanted without worrying about his mom lecturing him about spending his time on “silly comics”.
Marc dropped his bag beside Nathaniel’s bed, sitting on its edge. He glanced over at the page, oohing at his idea, “I love it! The way the panels are angled makes the fight choreography really pop! Wait, that gives me an idea for later! What if-” Marc turned back to his belongings, digging through it and handing his journal to Nathaniel before returning to rummaging through his stuff, “Can you write down notes for me? I need to redo my nails.”
“Sure,” Nathaniel opened it on his lap. They’ve really come so far. Less than a year ago, Nathaniel had ripped Marc’s journal to shreds without listening. Now, they trusted each other enough that Marc relinquished control of it instinctively. Nathaniel wrote down notes on the designated area in the back for when this exact scenario occurred as Marc rambled on and on about details and plot threads. Nathaniel kept alternating his gaze between the pages and Marc.
Marc had brought his nail polish supplies with him, having determined it was fine to let his guard down now that Nathaniel’s family was gone. He was wiping his nails clean with a cotton ball soaked in acetone, humming a song under his breath. Marc snuck a glance once he noticed the sound of Nathaniel’s writing had stopped. He giggled at how mesmerized his boyfriend looked at such a simple step of the process.
“Wanna help me decide?” Marc offered, handing the two bottles he had brought with him to Nathaniel. He was having trouble picking between his usual black and a new nude polish he bought when he saw it on sale. Normally, Marc would’ve chosen black without question, but he was aching to justify his impulsive purchase. He was going to ask Nathaniel to help him pick anyways, but Nathaniel didn’t need to know that.
Nathaniel stared at him for a moment, brain stuttering for a moment. “Huh? Oh, yeah, sure.” He leaned closer, inspecting both bottles closely before pointing at the black one, “I think more bold choices suit you.”
“Alright, then that’s what I’ll do!”
They continued to work on their comic, Marc splitting his attention between coming up with ideas for future story threads, giving Nathaniel his thoughts on his art, and painting his nails. He had done this enough times that he finished the polish relatively quickly. Marc tried to turn his attention fully to their comic, but it was obvious how distracted Nathaniel seemed.
“You okay?”
Nathaniel jumped, ripping his eyes away from the nude polish bottle back to his sketchbook, “Yeah! Definitely! Sorry.”
Marc hummed, reaching over to gently pry Nathaniel’s pencil out of his hand, “If you’re so interested, why don’t I just do your nails too?”
“Huh? No, I shouldn’t. My mom would kill me. And you, for that matter,” Nathaniel made a face, “She thinks that having painted nails makes me gay or whatever.”
Marc snickered, picking up the bottle of polish and shaking it in his hand, “Oh, please, you’ll be gay with or without them.” He held Nathaniel’s finger, looking over at him, “But do you actually want to try?”
Nathaniel swallowed, trying not to let his head get clouded by how tenderly Marc was touching him. He glanced at the polish again, “My mom won’t notice, right?”
“It’s nude, so it’s made to look like your natural nail. She won’t, unless you bring attention to it.”
That took some of the tension out of Nathaniel’s shoulders, “Then, please.”
Marc smiled at him, balancing the bottle in his left palm and stabilizing his right hand to paint his boyfriend’s nails. Nathaniel couldn’t really do anything with his hands now, with them either being held by Marc or drying. It gave him the time to watch Marc at work. He always claimed that his only artistic talent was writing, but he applied the polish so smoothly, it was obvious he had cultivated this skill over years. Maybe Marc would argue that it didn’t count as art, but Nathaniel certainly thought it did.
He only felt more valid about his position after Marc finished, flexing his fingers in front of him to admire the paint job. Marc was right. The nude polish really wasn’t noticeable unless one was looking closely. He shouldn’t have any issues with his mom making a fuss about them, thankfully.
“Now we match,” Marc interlocked their fingers, grinning up at his boyfriend. Compared to the boy he met a year ago, his anxiety from being around his crush had completely vanished. Nathaniel was glad that Marc felt much more comfortable around him now - God forbid they have another Marinette on their hands - but dating such a forward person was bad for his heart.
“You’ve gotten a lot more confident, haven’t you?” Nathaniel mumbled, leaning back on the bed. Marc continued to crawl forward, chasing Nathaniel across the sheets.
“Is that a bad thing?” Marc asked, tilting his wrist back to kiss Nathaniel’s knuckles.
Nathaniel shook his head, a dumb smile plastered across his face, “Of course not.” He tugged Marc forward by their intertwined hands, pulling the other on top of him and rolling them onto their side, throwing his leg over Marc’s side.
Marc shuffled slightly to rearrange them into a more comfortable position before hugging Nathaniel back with his free arm, “What about our comic?”
“Later. Cuddles now while my parents aren’t home.”
Marc laughed, nodding along and snuggling closer to Nathaniel. Nathaniel hummed, pressing his face against Marc’s shoulder to peer over to where his hands were clutching Marc’s jacket. He flexed his fingers slightly, watching the glint of his room’s light catch on the glossy top coat of his newly painted nails.
Even if it was temporary, even if it was barely noticeable, even if they were the only two who knew it existed, Nathaniel loved that he was matching with Marc.