Paris is Weird

Chapter 3: A Weird Discovery

This chapter dedicated to XMarixChatX for her help deciding on a hero name that precious Tomato Head could use.

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Nathaniel Kurtzberg

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It was the start of another day. Another day of sitting through classes Nathaniel couldn't find the ability to focus on. Another day of barely being noticed, unless it was because Chloe decided people needed to be aware of something embarrassing. Just another day.

Well, at least in his seat behind Ivan he could draw in peace. That was what he wanted to do anyway. Clutching at the strap to his bag the red head made his way down the rows of lockers, his eyes glued to the ground. That was where he found it.

The pin was beautiful, reminding him of a peacock with its tail spread proudly. The colors were lovely, too. He thought that it would be a great item to do a painting of...maybe he could find a cloth to set it on as a back drop. He could always do the piece by memory, sketch the pin out and add the colors and details later. Find a reference for some cloth online, like velvet...that would look amazing! But things always looked best when you actually had the item...

He wasn't going to steal it, of course. That was wrong, and he was no thief anyway. It was bad enough he'd been Akumatized and done horrible things...he couldn't remember them, but Chloe had sure as heck said a thing or two after the fact.

If anyone asked about the pin, he would return it for sure, that was the right thing to do. In the meantime, he had no idea who it belonged to. He would try to find out, and while he did, he could do his painting of the item. It was an all around win. With the plan in mind he tucked the pin in the pocket of his shirt and proceeded to his locker; where he could get the things he needed to start out the day.

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Nathaniel sat in his usual place behind Ivan, cleverly out of the teacher's direct line of sight. He had his sketchbook in front of him with the book the were meant to be learning from propped up around it to  keep prying eyes away. Ever Chloe had humiliated him while he was crushing on Marinette; he had become extra careful about uninvited critics seeing his work.

His HB pencil made light strokes across the paper, etching out the basic lines he would clean up later. It was just a rough sketch of a first draft but it would do for now. The elegant curves of the pin emerged on the page though he wouldn't dare to actually remove the piece of jewelry from his pocket.

He didn't want people to know he had it until he knew who it belonged to. Otherwise, anyone who admired it could say they had lost it, right? A drawing just meant he must have seen the item, so no one would mention it being theirs unless eyes knew it was lost. Maybe. He was thinking about it too much now.

His focus was suddenly jerked from his sketch by the voice of Madam Bustier as she called out Marinette for arriving late, again. A small smile teased his lips as he thought about how typical the routine was. Poor girl, what made her late today?

His attention turned back to his art and he was adding more details when the class was interrupted by the teacher once more scolding Marinette. His teal eyes drifted to the embarrassed girl, and he noticed that Alya seemed to look guilty. That meant she had been gossiping and it was Marinette who got caught talking. Just her luck.