"Mari, hey Mari!"
Marinette didn't hear her name being called, too busy with with the shimmering material in her hands. She sang softly as she sewed, trying to fix up a hole made by an untimely fall during a previous show. Despite the rather loud yelling and banging up the stairs, Marinette stayed focused on her work, carefully pushing and pulling the needle through fabric in what had become muscle memory in all her years of sewing.
"Marinette!"
Of course, no amount of muscle memory could stop her from stabbing herself in the thumb when Alya slammed through the door of the costume room.
"Ow, Alya!" Marinette whinned, sticking her thumb in her mouth.
Alya winced, gritting her teeth. "Oooh, sorry Mari. I thought you were just ignoring me, not in your zone."
"'My zone'?" Marinette pulled her thumb out, examining it with one eye squinted.
Alya nodded, crossing her arms. "Yeah, you get in this zone when you're so focused on working that you like, completely block out everything else."
"Huh."
"Anyways, I actually came up here for a reason other than causing you bodily harm." She straighten and motioned towards downstairs. "Y'know there's auditions going on down there, right?"
"Yep." Marinette returned her attention to her sparkly fabric.
"...like, right now. Happening below our feet. At this moment."
"Yep." She popped the 'p',
Alya didn't speak for a second, through Marinette could hear her shifting from foot to foot before the other girl sighed and sat down on a stool.
"Girl, when are you going to get over this whole stage fright thing and get out there?" Alya asked, her gentle voice offsetting her frankness.
Marinette continued staring at her work, her mouth pushed out into a pout as she gave a quick little shrug. "I dunno."
"Ugh, Mari, come on!" Alya leaned towards her. "You should be down there, wooing audiences and getting roses thrown at your feet, not locked away in the costume room."
"I like the costumes." Marinette huffed, holding her project to her chest defensively. "They don't laugh at me when I stutter or trip."
"Marinette..." Alya's voice was entirely too pitying and Marinette ducked her chin towards her chest.
It's not like Marinette wanted to screw up her lines or start shaking uncontrollably as soon as she set foot on stage, but she couldn't help it. On her own, she was fine, great even! She could recite her lines by rote, memorize the blocking and choreography, and sing with the best of them. But as soon as people started looking at her, expecting things from her, Marinette would freeze up and become a stuttering, trembling mess.
"Alright, how about this." Alya stood back up, extending a hand. "You bring that downstairs, sit the backstage and watch. You don't have to sing a single note, just be there."
Marinete stared up at Alya's offered hand, then back at her work, then back up again and sighed. "Okay."
"Yes!" Alya helped her up, gathering her friend up into a (careful, there were still needles about) hug. "Let's do this!"
Marinette put all the costumes that needed fixing into a bag and gathering up her sewing box, following Alya down the stairs and into the theater. The directors were up on stage with the actors, they had always been more hands on kind of people, and Alya sat Marinette down before taking off to join them. Marinette settled into a seat by the curtains, pulling out her supplies again as she watched.
Plagg, a tall, dark man with a lean frame was talking to a pair of actresses. He gesticulated wildly as he spoke, causing one of the techies to duck as they hurried by. Tikki was stood at the piano, her bright red hair contrasting beautifully with her tanned skin. Alya went straight to her, whispering something in her ear that caused her to look up and find Marinette in the wings.
She gave Marinette a broad smile and a wave, which Marinette returned until several people noticed where Tikki's attention had diverted. Shrinking down into her seat, Marinette busied herself with her work once more, keeping half her attention on the stage as things got started.
"Alright, everyone, settle down." Plagg's voice carried easily through the whole room, an advantage of having been in the theater for many years. "Due to 'pre-made arrangements', we've already cast our leads."
There was grumbling among the actors, and Marinete gave Alya a confused look. Her friend shrugged helplessly from her spot on the floor, motioning back to Plagg when he continued.
"Yeah, yeah, get angry about it, it's not going to change anything."
"While these arrangements are...unusual." Tikki cut in, joining her co-director at center stage. "We are all going to do our very best regardless, right?"
For being only 4'9", Tikki had a lot of power in her and was well respected by everyone at the theater. They all murmured their agreements when Tikki shot them a stern look, though soon her expression smoothed back into a pleasant smile.
"Excellent. Now I am very pleased to introduce our leads. If you two will come out?"
Two figures emerged out of the shadows across the stage from Marinette, both moving to stand by Tikki and Plagg. There was more murmuring from the group, and this time it was obvious why.
"As Danny, we have Adrien Agreste. And for our Sandy, Chloe Bourgeois!" Tikki held a hand out to the two, and there was a smattering of applause.
Marinette clapped along politely, but the duo really needed no introduction. Anyone who had spent more than ten minutes in a theater knew who Adrien Agreste was, a rising stage performer whose mother was once famous in the theater world. He had made quite the name for himself after appearing out of seemingly nowhere a few years back, steadily snagging bigger roles and bringing in bigger crowds wherever he went. Marinette had never met him in person, but she'd heard rumors. Apparently he was polite and kind, a very well put together, but really shone best when he was on the stage.
As for Chloe, well, everyone knew her. She was a...decent actress, not incredible but her looks tended to make up for that. That, and her family. It was hard to turn away the mayor's daughter when she wanted a roll in a play, so most people just didn't. All of this would have been alright if she was agreeable, but Marinette knew for a fact she was not. The girl threw hissy fits over the silliest things, and argued with directors like it was the reason she was put on earth. That, and she was notoriously rude to techies and people who worked behind the scene. AKA, Marinette.
Marinette barely listened as Tikki and Plagg gave a quick spiel about the show, trying instead to get a read on the two from where she sat. Adrien was smiling easily, his hands tucked behind his back as he appeared to listen attentively to what the directors were saying. His blonde hair was swept up and out of his face, and Marinette figured he was around the same age as her, late twenties at the very most. Chloe, on the other hand, was staring down at her nails, rolling her eyes and looking like she rather be anywhere else but here.
"So, even though the lead roles aren't open, there still are lots of supporting roles that are just as important." Tikki was saying while Chloe laughed under her breath. "And anyone can be a part of the chorus as long as they're willing to be here for rehearsals."
"That being said, we're on a bit of a schedule today, so let's get started!"
Tikki took a seat at the piano, one of the crew members bustled around to pass out scripts and sheet music.
"We'll start by learning a few of the songs together, then Tikki will work one-one with anyone who would like to audition for a specific role while I lead the rest. Everyone turn to the last scene of the play, page 74-"
Marinette started to tune out all the technical talk, focusing back in on her work. She let the music wash over her as she sewed, again singing along under her breath. The atmosphere was light and cheerful, something she missed when she was up in the costume room with only the clothes and props to keep her company. Occasionally the music would pause as Tikki or Plagg guided the group through parts of the song, but for the most part it remained a constant white noise.
She had just finished fixing the hole up when she realized that Adrien and Chloe had come to stand near the piano (and right in front of her) and were speaking quietly to each other.
"I don't know why you even bother, there are better places we could be Adrichu!" Chloe's voice was decidedly whiny and while Marinette didn't usually make a habit of eavesdropping, they were right there and she didn't have much else to do.
"Chloe, I already told you. This theater meant a lot to my mom." Adrien's sounded exasperated. "You don't have to stay here if you don't want to."
"Hmph. I still think it's a dump."
Marinette dropped her sewing box at that, staring up at the girl with anger. Chloe and Adrien both glanced back at her as though just realizing she was there.
"Can't you keep out of other people's business?" Chloe stared down at her incredulously, crossing her arms.
"Sorry." Marinette glanced away and bowed back over her work.
She was prepared to go back to ignoring them when Chloe muttered to Adrien, "Honestly, if they have people like that working here I don't see the point."
Marinette's grip tightened on her box, her teeth grinding and eye twitching as she tried to contain her rage.
Before she could stand up and chuck the box at her (or maybe start throwing needles into her stupid ponytail) Tikki called Chloe over to help with some of the spoken cues. Marinette relaxed, marginally, when Chloe sauntered off and attempted to regain focus.
"Sorry about that." Adrien's sudden voice startled her and Marinette almost pricked herself for the second time that day. "Chloe can be...picky about where we perform."
Marinette looked up at him and he was staring back down at her. His face seemed genuine, his mouth curled in that same easy smile. From up close, she noticed that it didn't seem to quite reach his eyes.
"It's fine." Marinette shook her head. "It's not the first time I've dealt with a drama queen, and it certainly won't be the last. Not in this line of work, anyways."
Adrien let out a chuckle that was more huff than actual laugh, and inclined his head. "You've been in the theater for a while?"
"As long as I can remember." Marinete glanced up and searched through the crowd of actors. "See that girl in the flannel?"
"Red hair, glasses?"
"Yep. That's my friend Alya, who dragged me here to audition for Annie Jr when we were both nine." Marinette smiled fondly at the sight of her friend nodding along to what Plagg was saying. "She ended up playing Annie, I ended up working on the orphan's dresses backstage."
"Wow, that's something else." Adrien glanced out over the crowd of people, watching them laugh and bump each other between practicing. "I wish I had gotten back to this place sooner."
"Your mom worked here?" Marinette asked and then turned red when Adrien looked over at her with high eyebrows. "S-sorry, I couldn't help overhearing..."
"Nah, it's alright." Adrien rested his hip on the piano. "Yeah, this was the first place she performed. And it's where she met my father. I used to come here alot when I was little too, actually."
Marinette whistled, leaning forwards in her seat. "That's a lot of history. Why didn't you come back sooner?"
Something pinched in Adrien's eyes as he looked away, though his smile stayed in place. "I got a bit sidetracked on the way."
Marinette internally winced, it looked like she'd stirred up some sort of bad memories. Rumors and speculation had been made about what Adrien had been doing before he hit the stage, but Marinette learned to never take things like that at face value. Theater people were horrible gossips, and a story told about someone was generally changed so much over time that it just couldn't be believed.
"Well, you're here now." Marinette tried amending her mistake, giving Adrien a gentle smile when he finally looked over. "That's what counts."
Adrien stared down at her before cracking a full, wide grin that showed off his adorably sticky-outy teeth. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Hey Adrien! Just because you've got the lead doesn't mean you can slack off!" Plagg called from across the room, ignoring Tikki's scolding. "Stop flirting and get over here!"
Marinette turned red when everyone glanced over, but mustered up the courage to look back up at Adrien. "Better head out there, Zucko."
Adrien let out another laugh, this one much louder and more carefree than the last and gave her a little bow as he stepped out towards the other actors. Marinette watched him jog towards Plagg, the taller man grabbing him by the shoulders and ruffling his hair. He didn't seemed surprised by the action, which probably meant that he had been around the director before. That might explain part of why he got the lead out of nowhere, but Marinette got the feeling there was something else going on.
Trying to push it from her mind, Marinette pulled out another costume in need of repairs and set to work as the music picked up once more.
AN: OKAAYY, here we go! Let me just say that I will be finishing 'all is calm', don't worry about that. This idea has just been bugging me and I sat down to write an outline (and only and outline) and somehow spit out two and a half chapters. Needless to say, this is going to become a Thing now.
I have no idea how long this fic will be, I'm still trying to sort that all out, but I'm already having so much fun with it. It's a nice break from the intensity of 'all is calm'.
In case anybody asks, the reason Marinette is so comfortable around Adrien is because they're older, she's a little more mature and at ease with herself. Most of her insecurities manifest as her stage fright, which will be sort of the central part of the fic.
Usually, I keep chapters around this length, but since this is the first chapter it might get longer from here? I'm not quite sure about the set up yet, as I said before I'm figuring it out! This is basically all one big experiment.