miraculous Christmas special

chapter 2

"Wait, your dad's assistant Nathalie?" Nino exclaimed, and with shock Marinette remembered why it was familiar.

Adrien frowned. "Yeah."
"Dude, that's seriously disturbing.

Isn't she like … forty?"
"Um, Nino," Alya said suddenly, "I don't think that's what he...."
"Thirty-four," Adrien corrected. "It's only one year, and they're both adults. How is that disturbing?"

Once his words had sunk in, Marinette almost fainted in relief.

"Er … what, now?" Nino asked.
"You're talking about your father and Nathalie?" Alya queried. Nino groaned and face palmed.

"Of course, I was. Who did you think I was talking about?"

"Don't ask," Nino mumbled, blushing hard. "Forget I said...."
"Wait, you thought.... ewww, Nino!" Adrien shuddered. "You've got a sick mind!"

"It wasn't really his fault," Marinette found the courage to say. "When you said you wanted help with a romantic project, I think we all took that to mean planning a date."

Adrien blinked. "Oh."
"So … what about your dad and his assistant?"

"Right," he said, clearing his throat awkwardly. "So, in a nutshell, I'm planning to set them up together."
"Aww," Alya said. "That's really sweet."

"Thanks. But … I'm in desperate need of some ideas. So far all I've got is somehow getting them under the mistletoe at Christmas. But how to do that is something I've been having some trouble figuring out."

"You mean beyond putting mistletoe up in all the doorways?" Nino said, finally looking up again. "They're bound to get caught together under it sooner or later if you do that."

"I think that would be kind of obvious," Adrien said. "If Father cottons on to what I'm doing, he'll go out of his way to make sure I don't succeed, starting with making me take all the mistletoe down and banning it in the house ever again."

"So … he won't want to be set up with Nathalie?" Marinette said slowly.

"My father isn't exactly very open emotionally. And he's really stubborn. I don't think it could ever happen without a bit of a push, and if he knows in advance the push is happening, he'll dodge it, no matter how much he might want what it's pushing him towards. If that makes sense."

"I think I followed that," Nino said slowly.

"The idea is to play Cupid without either of them realising it until it's too late. So whatever I do, it's got to be subtle."
 
Alya looked thoughtful. "Why exactly are you trying to set them up? I mean, do you just think they'll be good together, or do you think they actually have feelings for each other? Because the information would definitely be helpful."

"I don't know if I could say they're 'in love'.....yet," Adrien said slowly, "but there's definitely something between them."

"Are you sure?"
"Positive. I mean, they've been good friends for years anyway, but the last few months … they've got so much closer, I can see it."

"They might just be closer friends than before," Nino pointed out.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew my father as well as I do. I can count on one hand, the number of people he has ever let talk back to him without getting a very nasty response. Nathalie could always get away with more than most people including me but even she has a limit. But you remember when I was off sick a few weeks ago?"

They all nodded.