A/N: So, this has been on my mind since I saw the episode "Animan" followed by the English version of "Evillustrator." I got really sad that there wasn't enough Nathanette in the show. I thought that Nino having a crush on Marinette was cute but then all I could think about was Nathanael and how sweet his crush was. Thus I rewrote "Animan" to make it Nathanette. Timeline wise this comes somewhere after Paper Faces on Parade and way before Holding Out for a Hero. This is part 1.

"So there I am, stuck and balancing this giant cake and my lady decides it would be great idea to sling her weapon at my feet. I trip. Cake goes flying out of my hands. It lands on bad guy of the day, red and black frosting everywhere. He stumbles around blindly, steps on me and… Ow! Nino!" Adrien rubbed his arm and glared at Nino, who was lowering his fist. Right in the middle of the best part too!

"Dude, shut up about the heroics." hissed Nino. "Nathanael's coming this way."

Adrien looked up. Sure enough the other boy was feet away from them. His hands were clutching his sketchbook tight to his chest and already his face was as red as his hair. Adrien quirked an eyebrow but raised his hand in greeting anyways. "Hey Nathanael!" he called.

"Adrien, can I talk to you about something?" mumbled Nathanael. The poor kid looked like he was having trouble looking Adrien in the eyes.

"Sure," Adrien shrugged and smiled, "about what?"

"I… I…" Nathanael stammered. He pressed his sketchbook closer to his chest. His face turned two shades redder. "I would really like to, you know..."

Whatever he said was lost as his voice dipped down into the range that even Chat Noir would have trouble hearing. Adrien twisted his head to the side, eyebrows furrowing. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch that last bit at all."

"Yeah, dude. Can you repeat that?" Nino nodded.

Nathanael blushed even harder. Wow! He was giving Marinette a run for her money. Nathanael groaned loudly and covered his face with his sketchbook. Actually, he kind of started smacking himself lightly in the face with it. Adrien was seconds away from getting up to make him stop when Nathanael pulled it away from himself. "I w…want to ask s…someone out."

"Like on a date?" Adrien asked. Nino leaned forward across the table as he listened in intently. Nathanael gave a jerky nod that made his hair flop up and down over his eyes. Adrien felt a smile stretch across his face. "That's great! Who is it?"

Nathanael clenched his mouth shut. Nino smiled just as wide as Adrien. "Alright now you have to spill! C'mon, tell us!"

"Bonjour Nino! Bonjour Nathanael! Bonjour Adrien!" Alya said brightly with a wave as she and Marinette walked past them. Marinette had her latest fashion magazine pressed up against her nose. Adrien could see the tint of pink already spreading across her nose and cheekbones. Alya elbowed her in the ribs.

Marinette yelped a little and dropped the magazine. She gave them a sheepish, weak smile. "G...good morning guys!" she stuttered. Her eyes dropped to the ground.

"Morning Marinette, Alya!" Nino smiled back.

"Hey ladies!" Adrien waved.

"H...hi M...Marinette. Hi Alya." whispered Nathanael. Adrien shot a look between Nathanael and Marinette. He nudged Nino with his foot and nodded his head in the pair's direction.

"Oh…" Nino said under his breath.

"C'mon girl we've got to get to the mall!" Alya said as she started to drag Marinette away. Marinette went with her willingly. Adrien couldn't help but notice that her face had turned an even deeper shade of red. Nathanael watched her leave.

Adrien couldn't help it. He stood up and threw his arm around Nathanael's shoulders. "You, uh, seem to be staring at a certain someone Nathanael." he smirked. "Could it be that the artist of the class has a crush on our favorite fashionista?"

Nathanael went rigid. Then his shoulders slumped forward, making him seem tiny underneath Adrien's arm. "Nevermind." he grumbled. "I should've known you would've just teased me."

He ducked away from Adrien's arm and started to stalk away. Nathanael got maybe two steps before Adrien darted in front of him. "Woah! I'm not teasing you Nathanael. I promise. Ask Nino."

"He's not teasing you," answered Nino right on cue. Nathanael didn't look convinced. Nino stood and joined them. "Didn't you already ask Marinette out once?"

Nathanael snorted, "I hardly count inviting her to a two person birthday party when I was the Evillustrator as asking her out. I can't even remember it… That's probably a good thing."

Adrien winced. He remembered that fight. Part of him still couldn't believe that Ladybug had convinced him to put sweet, kind Marinette in such a dangerous position. Yeah, sure Marinette had willingly gone along with the plan. However, there were still some nights that Adrien woke up in a cold sweat after a nightmare where the two of them had gone down with the barge while trapped in that tiny glass box. Never again.

"Fair enough," Nino admitted, "I don't really count the party I threw for Adrien when I was Bubbler as, y'know, a party."

"That was a crummy party." Nathanael told him. There was a hint of a smile on his face and his bright red blush seemed to have eased up a bit.

"Marinette's really sweet. She deserves someone like you." smiled Adrien. He honestly meant it.

"Someone like me? You mean a guy who stutters and stammers his way through simple sentences when it comes to her?" Nathanael pointed out in utter despair. "Marinette is just so kind, and gentle, and creative, and pretty. I'm just… Urgh!"

Adrien shook his head and grasped Nathanael's shoulders, "You can totally do this! You two would be really cute together."

"Uh… bro," Nino said hesitantly. Adrien shot a dirty look at him. Nino immediately lowered his hand. The grimace on his face didn't disappear. Adrien whipped around sideways as he turned to look at Nino. He threw his arm around Nathanael's shoulders once more and blocked his view of the less than enthusiastic Nino. Well he thought that Nathanael and Marinette would make a sweet pair.

"You've come to the right person for help mon amie! I'm a Parisian fashion model. I'm an expert at love. I'll help you win that date with Marinette." he promised, ignoring Nino's suppressed snort. Adrien gave Nathanael a light smack on the shoulder.

"You… you will?" stuttered Nathanael. His eyes lit up and he seemed to stand up straighter. Nathanael's confidence was growing already. Excellent! Just what Adrien wanted!

"Of course," Adrien told him. "Meet us back here after school today and we'll make sure you get a chance to ask Marinette out for real this time."

Nathanael nodded fervently. "Alright!"

"Now you go and brainstorm some killer ideas for places to take Marinette on your date!" Adrien commanded as he pushed Nathanael back towards the school doors.

"R… right! Thanks Adrien! Thanks Nino!" Nathanael called over his shoulder as he ran for the building.

Adrien dusted off his hands. He turned to face Nino, crossing his arms over his chest. "What the heck was that about? The whole 'uh bro' thing." Adrien dropped his voice an octave and mimicked Nino's inflection.

"Okay, first of all I do not sound like that." Nino scoffed, thoroughly offended. "And second of all, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean you're practically setting Nathanael up to be rejected."

"I am not!" Adrien drew back. "Nathanael has just as much of a shot with Marinette as anyone else."

"You sure about that?" Nino challenged him. His eyebrow shot up as he looked Adrien up and down.

Adrien was about to say something else but Plagg suddenly slipped out of his shirt pocket. "Give it a rest Nino. The kid is so thick that you could run him into a brick wall and he'd be uninjured."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Adrien growled. He snatched for Plagg but his hand only closed around air. Plagg shared some kind of meaningful look with Nino as he floated over Nino's shoulder.

"Nothing, nothing." Plagg said in a way that sounded like the complete opposite of 'nothing.'

Nino sighed and shook his head, "That's probably is the reason why he never gets injured when an akuma smashes him against the concrete."

"Hey!" whined Adrien. Plagg just snickered, bobbing up and down in the air.

"Some expert with love." muttered Nino, "Tell me where did you get your credentials."

"Probably google… or ebay. Like everything else he has." Plagg said.

"Keep it up buddy and you're going to find yourself eating plastic-y processed yellow cheese from a spray can." Adrien told him.

"Oh no! I'm so scared." Plagg shot back.

"In all seriousness dude how exactly are you going to help Nathanael when you can't even convince the girl you like to go on anything more than 'totally not a date' dates?" Nino pointed out.

"I am quite happy with my 'totally not a date' dates with Ladybug I'll have you know. It's what she's comfortable with and has fun doing and I get to spend extra time with her. It's a win-win situation!" shrugged Adrien. "As far as Nathanael goes, we just need to help him boost his confidence a bit. You saw the look on his face when I said I'd help him. He can do this. He just needs a bit of prodding and building up."

"Uh-huh…" Nino and Plagg said together in unison. It was scary how the looks on their faces were exactly the same.

"Guys! I'm serious! Nathanael can do this and we are going to help him! Will help me?"

"Still not sure this is a good idea but yeah. I'm in. Someone's got to make sure that Nathanael actually gets a chance to ask Marinette out because we both know that you're way too inept to actually get him to that point." Nino told him.

"Hey!" Adrien whined. However, Nino and Plagg were already heading towards the school building.

X X X

"Alright, so do you know where you want to ask her to?" Adrien asked as he walked side by side with Nathanael across the courtyard. Nino was walking on Nathanael's other side.

Nathanael flipped through a notebook to the list that he'd written during class. It looked like sitting behind Ivan had its perks. The list that Nathanael had generate was pretty good. There was smoothies in the park, a favorite of Marinette's Adrien knew. That was a good one. Adrien also saw a specific art gallery on Nathanael's list. Another good option seeing as both Nathanael and Marinette were into art. Nathanael ran his finger down the list and tapped one option somewhere near the bottom. "That one." he said.

"The zoo?" Nino read off.

"Kim and Max said that they had a new panther." Nathanael explained. The blush creeped on to his face. Adrien slapped him on the back supportively.

"The zoo is always a fun place to go." Nino assured him.

"I know that Marinette really like black cats and I just thought..."

Adrien had to bite his lip to keep from saying anything he shouldn't. Nino shot him a warning look before saying, "I'm sure you two will have a blast."

Adrien grabbed Nathanael under the arm and dragged him to a large tree. Nathanael cried out a little as Adrien threw him out of sight. Marinette and Alya were standing down at the corner by the street. They were huddled around Marinette's magazine, giggling. Nathanael went stiff standing next to them. "There she is! Your lady love! Are you ready for this?" asked Adrien as he pointed to the girls.

A small mouse squeak came out of Nathanael's mouth.

"I'm gonna take that as a no." Nino mumbled. He rubbed his face, upsetting his glasses.

"I changed my mind. I can't do this." he whispered as he looked directly at Marinette.

"What! No! Don't say that!" Adrien waved his hands through the air. "Just take a deep breath and just get out there!"

"What if she says no?" asked Nathanael.

Behind him, Nino winced. Adrien shot his foot out and kicked Nino in the shin. Nathanael turned to look at Nino in confusion but Adrien already shaking him by the shoulders enthusiastically. "You never know until you ask right?" Adrien told him.

"That's easy for you to say Mr. 'I'm on the cover of every French fashion magazine.'" mumbled Nathanael.

Nathanael's eyes fell on Marinette and once more the red tint spread across his face. Adrien chewed his lip. The poor guy was never going to be able to take the first step by himself. "Nino and I will go with you! Moral support!" Adrien said suddenly.

"Moral support?" repeated Nino. Adrien smacked him in the chest. "Uh… I mean yeah! Moral support!"

"Let's go do this Nathanael!" Adrien grinned and gave a thumbs up. "We'll be right behind you!"

Nathanael nodded stiffly and creeped out from behind the tree. Adrien scanned the area looking for potential disasters. No sign of Chloe or Sabrina. No nosy upper classmen. No Rose and Juleka with their phones to video the momentous occassion of their friend asking Marinette out. Huh, that was weird. Usually Nathanael told those girls everything. Adrien had expected them to be right in on the action. Maybe Nathanael hadn't actually told them. Maybe he was trying to avoid making a huge scene with them.

Nino grabbed him under the shoulder and jerked him back a few feet behind Nathanael. "I don't want to see Nathanael crash and burn." his voice was barely above a whisper.

"Neither do I and I don't think he will. Have a little optimism Nino." Adrien assured him.

They caught up and fell into step with Nathanael. To his credit, Nathanael looked like having he and Nino beside him was working fantastically for his nerves. Nathanael was looking straight ahead, eyes bright, and only a tinge of pink on his cheeks. Adrien was feeling pretty good about this. Nathanael had this in the bag.

"Hey Alya! Hey Marinette!" Adrien called brightly. Marinette squeaked and spun around. The magazine she'd been looking at flew out of her hand, landing on the ground face up. It was ones he'd posed for the cover of. Adrien dropped to the ground to pick it up for her and promptly clunked heads with her.

"S… sorry!" she stammered.

Adrien held the magazine out to her, "No, no! My fault. Totally my fault. Here's your magazine back. Have you taken the test yet? The one with the animals."

Marinette made a little sound in the back of her throat that sounded vaguely affirmative. Very adorable and absolutely perfect for Nathanael! Adrien cast a glance at Nathanael. Now was his chance! The perfect time for him to ask her out.

Too bad Nathanael seemed to have frozen up.

The poor kid looked as though he had been caught in someone else's headlights. Instead of bright red, his face was stark white.

"How are you guys today?" asked Alya with a light voice as she shifted closer to Marinette. There was a little smirk on her face as she nudged Marinette with her elbow.

"Doing well." answered Nino. He shot Nathanael a wary sideways look before jerking his head at Adrien. The message was clear: 'do something.' Time for a little intervention.

"So Nathanael was telling us about his plans to go to the zoo. Weren't ya buddy?" Adrien blatantly lied. He thumped Nathanael on the back.

"Yeah," came Nathanael's timid, monosyllabic response. Adrien choked back a wince. Okay, not a problem. Adrien could work with this. It wasn't too bad. He got nervous around Ladybug sometimes too. Nathanael could do this. He just needed the right prodding.

"What were you saying Kim and Max had told you?" prompted Adrien.

"Something about a new tiger?" Nino added.

Nathanael stood there between them, staring at the girls with wide eyes. Adrien smacked him on the chest. "It's a panther." Nathanael corrected stiffly.

"Cool right?" Adrien winked at the girls. "Nino and I think it's a pretty great idea. Totally fun right Nathanael?"

Nino squeezed Nathanael on the shoulder. "R… right." he mumbled.

"Nobody should go alone though, y'know what I mean." Adrien said. He waited expectantly. This was the prime moment for Nathanael to ask Marinette out. There would literally be no better time. It just didn't look like Nathanael was capable of sentences longer than three or four words. Adrien caught Nino giving him a side glance. Nathanael was crashing and burning. He had to do something? Adrien cleared his throat. "So we were wondering if you guys might like to join us?"

Adrien could practically hear Nino's jaw hit the ground. The guy had to work on his subtlety. He pushed it aside

A huge grin spread across Marinette's face. She gave a wordless, enthusiastic nod that made her pigtails swing around her face. Score! Definitely a good sign. Disaster averted. He just had to figure out a way to remove Nino, Alya, and himself from the situation. Compared to some of the other things he'd had to do, that would be easier than pie! Maybe he could get Nino to explain the situation to Alya. She'd understand. "That sounds super fun. Count Marinette and I in!" Alya answered for the pair of them.

"Great! We'll see you ladies tomorrow afternoon at the zoo." Adrien told them brightly as he latched on to Nathanael's collar and dragged him away. They darted behind the wall in front of the river. "Nathanael? What happened? You were doing so well and then, just, poof!"

Adrien snapped his fingers for emphasis. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's just that Marinette was there and I was there and she was there and I was there and GAH! I couldn't think. I could barely breathe!"

"It's okay, it's okay." Adrien assured him quickly.

"Dude! How is this okay? Last I heard you, Alya, and I were all going on this date. Nathanael doesn't want us on his date with Marinette." demanded Nino. "We'll be the third, fourth, and fifth wheels on this supposed date!"

"Relax! I've got a plan." Adrien told him dismissively. He distinctly heard Plagg muttering something derisive from inside his shirt pocket. Adrien brushed his hand over his pocket covertly to shut him up. Nino, on the other hand, couldn't be silenced so easy.

"From the guy who brought Paris the fireman pole sliding and tap dancing style distractions from a suped up possessed cop." Nino grumbled. It was so quiet that only Adrien heard it. Thank you Nino!

"I have a plan too," Nathanael told them. Normally the words would have reassured Adrien. Unfortunately, Nathanael didn't exactly sound reassuring. "I'm not going. You two can go with Marinette and Alya while I stay home and wallow in misery."

"Good job Adrien." snorted Nino. Adrien reached over and whacked Nino hard enough to knock the hat off his head.

"Nathanael don't talk like that. Nino and I will be right behind you the entire time you're on your date. We'll help you talk to her and keep you from feeling like your courage is flying out the window." Adrien said. He patted Nathanael on the shoulder. "What could go wrong."

Nino started to open his mouth. Adrien sent him a death glare to silence him.