I came up with this story idea last year but Christmas was already over so I just wrote out a quick outline and saved it for this year to write and post. I thought Marinette would make a super cute elf (sort of got the idea from the episode Chrismaster when she claimed to be an elf), and then I thought 'why stop with just her?' Make all the characters elves. Santa has already sort of been made a character in the show...so here we are.
All Miraculous characters are Santa's elves working at the North Pole. The elves in my story have life spans similar to humans, but times 10. 1 year = 10 years. So it takes 10 years for an elf to grow to the next age. So if about 100 years is the max for humans, about 1,000 years is the max for an elf.
Example: Elf Marinette is 155 years old, but she looks 15 years old. And she won't look 16 until she turns 160.
I love the elves from The Santa Clause the most, so I'm writing this with their style in mind, but my elves are not all kids. They age to adulthood and older, and they get married and have elf babies.
Another kid on the Nice list. Filed, and saved.
Adrien leaned back in his chair, sighing as he stretched his arms up. He still had a few hundred kid profiles to go through. It was almost the first of December, which meant all children had to be filed properly and saved onto the list for Santa to look over twice. If there were any last minute changes due to a child's misbehavior or good behavior, they would need to alert Santa ASAP.
As a Naughty & Nice elf—or N&N elf—that was Adrien's talent. He was good at research, reading people—seeing the good in them—so that made him good at his job. Plus, he was fluent in several languages. All N&N elves knew at least a few in order to review profiles from kids all over the world.
It was a desk job and not very exciting, but it was important. Making Santa's list. Although most elves would agree that it wasn't the most fun job and didn't require a lot of skill. It was the job they gave elves who weren't creative or had any unique abilities.
Most elves thought this. Including Adrien.
It wasn't that he hated his job. He loved helping where he could and seeing all the goodness in the kids that he profiled. It felt really good getting to mark them as 'nice,' not so good having to mark them as 'naughty.' And it wasn't that he didn't have any other talents. Adrien's mother had been teaching him piano since he could sit up, and it was very fun for him to play for people. But as much as he loved it, he didn't want it to be the only thing to occupy his work days. He wanted to help where he could with Christmas preparation, and there were plenty of other elves who played piano who were much more passionate about playing music all day than he was.
Adrien just thought that what the other elves could do were so much cooler compared to his job. Like the toy makers, who were incredibly creative and good with their hands. The gift wrappers were very skilled too. Beautifully wrapped gifts in no time flat. His best friend Nino worked part-time as a wrapper, but most of his time was spent DJ-ing the workshop with Christmas music. He wasn't the only elf who did more than one thing.
Speaking of, Adrien looked at the clock and remembered that Nino was just about to take a break. The blonde elf liked meeting up with him at this time. He hadn't had a break for several hours so it was fine.
Adrien stood from his chair and exited the N&N Center. He walked through the workshop, waving and offering hellos to the elves hard at work. His destination; the break table on the other side of the large room where he could see his best friend was already there, a mug in his hand.
Nino wore a dark blue vest with a long-sleeved light blue shirt underneath, blown slacks, white and black elf shoes, and a red cap.
It was normal elf attire. A mix of traditional and modern. Some elves preferred one style over the other.
Adrien himself wore a short-sleeved green button shirt with all the buttons undone, revealing a white shirt with a few thin horizontal red and green strips along the chest. His slacks were black and his elf shoes were orange.
"Hey Nino," Adrien greeted his buddy when he reached the long table covered with beverage dispensers and platers of snacks.
"'Sup dude," his best friend greeted him back. The two teenaged elves pumped fists before Adrien grabbed a mug and filled it with hot cocoa, added a few mini-marshmallows, then grabbed a croissant to munch on. "How's the profiling going?" Nino asked as they leaned against the wall by the end of the table.
Adrien shrugged. "Fine. Only a handful of naughty kids in today's batch."
"Excellent. Boss-man loves a short Naughty list."
"Hallelujah," Adrien cheered, holding his mug closer to Nino for him to clink with his. Then they both drank.
"Speaking of the Boss-man," Nino said as he finished drinking. The DJ elf pointed across the room to the elf-in-charge, doing a walk-through inspection of Christmas preparations. Santa was walking with two other elves, one was a Toy Maker who was showing him a new toy car model, the other followed with a clipboard in hand.
As Nino rambled on, Adrien's emerald green eyes drifted off, no longer listening to his best friend.
A certain elf also across the room had caught his full attention.
She was walking around, smiling and greeting everyone she passed, complementing their work or offering them a cookie from the basket she was carrying.
She wore a red dress with a white apron, red and green striped stockings, and black ballet flats. Her bluenette hair was in twin pigtails, held by two red ribbons.
This certain elf, the sugar plum of Adrien's eye, was called Marinette.
"Dude!" Nino exclaimed, giving Adrien's shoulder a shake. "Were you listening?"
Adrien snapped back from his dreamy haze and turned back to his friend. "Yeah. 'Course I was," he quickly lied before nonchalantly sipping his cocoa.
"Right, sure," Nino said sarcastically. His eyes were drawn to the girl in red across the room too, a knowing smirk on his face. "Not while the princess is in the room."
Instead of replying, Adrien playfully nudged his friend with his elbow. That was his little nickname for her. Why? Because Marinette was a princess, in every sense of the word. She was kind, caring, intelligent, humble, everyone adored her. Not to mention unbelievably beautiful.
Every elf had little silver specks on their cheeks, but the ones on Marinette's rosy cheeks made her bluebell eyes pop and sparkle even more. And her freckles were a cute bonus. Her dark hair had the most sunning blue tint to it. Her pigtails were adorable, but Adrien thought it looked best down. The first time he had seen it completely down, he had nearly dropped a whole city's worth of child profiles on the floor.
Back across the room, Marinette walked up to the boss with a smile on her face. "Would you like a cookie, Santa?" she asked sweetly.
"Hmmm…would I like a cookie?" the jolly older man asked himself, looking up in thought while scratching his long white beard. "Ho Ho Ho! Yes, please!"
Marinette giggled as she searched her basket and selected for him a sugar cookie with many colorful sprinkles baked in. "Made fresh just this morning," she told him as she handed it to him.
"Thank you, Marinette," Santa thanked her before taking a bite. "How are those doll dress designs coming along?" he asked.
"Great! I was going to show them to the doll makers later."
"Good girl. Now, off you go."
Marinette bayed him a cheery goodbye before walking away, heading toward the direction of the workshop break table.
"Jingle bells! She's coming over here!" Adrien exclaimed nervously. "How's my hair?"
"Perfect. Now would you chill?" Nino said, exasperated.
"I am chill. I'm chiller than a snowman in a blizzard," Adrien tried to defend as he attempted to readjust his bangs with the same hand he was holding half a croissant with.
"Really? 'Cause you look more like a chestnut on an open fire," the DJ teased. He was certainly red enough in the face.
"I can't help it, Nino."
Marinette was the most amazing elf in the whole North.
Most elves had at least one talent they were amazing at. Marinette had three! She was primarily a baker—like her parents—but she also had an eye for fashion. She designed clothes for both elves and dolls, and then she sowed them. Her talents in both were outstanding.
Baking, designing, and sowing. She was some kind of super elf!
Normally, Adrien was quite relaxed and confidant, but sometimes—when Marinette was around—he turned into a nervous dork.
"Then why don't you just ask her out already?" Nino told him then smirked. "Christmas is just around the corner, so you know what that means."
Adrien did know. The Christmas Eve Spectacular.
The biggest party of the year for all residents of the North Pole. Right after Santa leaves to deliver all the toys, the elves celebrate all their hard work with music, singing, dancing, food, games, Secret-Santa gift exchange, and all sorts of fun things. The party lasts all throughout the night until Santa returns. Then Christmas Day they had off to spend with their families, but the next day started work for next Christmas.
It wasn't mandatory to have a date, someone to dance with and stand under the mistletoe with, but elves did love to if they could.
But could Adrien ask Marinette?
They were friends, but he could never tell her how he truly felt. Marinette was so amazing, and he was so lame compared to her. Why would she want to go out with a nobody N&N elf like him?
As Marinette drew closer, Adrien stopped fussing with his hair and tried focusing on breathing normally, while also trying to look casual.
"Hi Nino," she greeted the DJ elf kindly.
"'Sup Dudette," he replied, shooting her a finger-gun with his one free hand.
"Hey, Marinette, hi, hello," Adrien chimed in quickly, giving her a little wave.
"Hi Adrien. How are the children's profiles today? Mostly nice I hope?"
"Oh yeah. Kids are really changing for the better this year," he told her happily, placing a hand to his chest. "Warms my heart."
"Warms mine too," she replied, placing her own hand over her chest.
"Uh, speaking of warm, would you like to join Nino and I for a mug of hot chocolate?" he asked, gesturing to the table behind him.
"Well, I'm just here to drop off these cookies at the break table, but I guess I could spare a minute," she replied. She hadn't planned on sticking around too long after dropping off the cookies but she had no reason to decline. She was in no hurry. She loved chatting with her friends and it had been a while since she last spoke to Adrien for more than a minute.
Marinette placed the cookie basket on the table, grabbed a mug, and filled it with cocoa.
Already knowing how she likes her cocoa, Adrien grabbed the can of whipped cream and a chocolate wafer cookie. When she turned back around with her full mug, Adrien squirted a swirly glob of cream onto the top then stuck the wafer cookie into the side.
A bit surprised, Marinette raised her head up from her mug and looked at Adrien.
Adrien froze. Maybe that was a bit too much. "Umm…sorry, I just…know how you like your cocoa," he tried to smile, praying she didn't think weirdly of his actions.
Thankfully, Marinette smiled. "Thank you, Adrien. You're too sweet," she said to him honestly.
Adrien mentally sighed in relief as he watched her dip the wafer cookie sticking out of her mug further in, getting it soaked with the cocoa and whipped cream before pulling it out and eating it. When the cookie was finished, she took a sip from the mug.
When she lowered the mug, not only did she have a slight cocoa-stash, but there was a dot of whipped cream on the tip of her nose.
Hearing a light snicker of laughter from Nino behind him, Adrien tried not to laugh himself. "Oh…Marinette, you've got a little something-" he managed to say while pointing to his own nose.
"What?" she asked him, confused.
She brushed her tongue across her upper lip, which got rid of the cocoa left behind—and made Adrien's mouth go dry at the same time—but not the whipped cream.
The sound of a throat being loudly cleared right behind him made Adrien turn his head. He saw Nino standing there, holding a napkin out for him. When Adrien took it, his friend gave him a wink from behind his glasses.
Adrien turned back to Marinette, raised the napkin to her nose and wiped it away.
"There. All better," he declared.
"Thank you. That could have been embarrassing, walking back to the bakery like that," Marinette giggled at the thought. Adrien chuckled with her.
"So, how are things at the bakery? How are your parents?" he said, changing the topic to something they could actually talk about.
"Great. Mostly gingerbread house baking, construction, and decorating right now. Busy as ever but everyone's having a good time," she replied. Both her parents were Baker Elves so it was nice working alongside them every day. At least when she wasn't helping the Seamstress Elves every now and then. "And your parents?"
"Fine. Mom is keeping busy with the choir and father is working himself and the other Seamstress Elves to the bone."
Unlike Marinette's parents, Adrien's parents both had different talents. His mother, Emilie, had a talent for entertainment. Singing, acting, dancing. She was head of the Elf Choir and assisted in the Elves Musical Theater Society. His father, Gabriel, was head of the Seamstress Elves, in charge of clothing making/designing. Marinette's father, Tom, was head of the Baker Elves. So she understood.
One thing the two elves teen's did have in common was that both of their fathers were members of Santa's counsel, as heads of a single talent group of elves. A very important job and a great honor.
It could be very time-consuming and stressful, but they were both dedicated and hardworking. Like all elves were, no matter what their job was.
"Are you gonna perform with the choir at the Christmas Eve Spectacular?" Marinette asked him.
As head of the choir, Emilie appointed her son as their unofficial pianist. He played with them during a few shows and performances. There were other pianist elves who were officially music elves, but she got Adrien to play with them when she could. Everyone took turns. Like during the Christmas Eve Spectacular, it'd be a shame if one elf had to play all night and didn't get to take a break to relax and just enjoy the party.
"Well, my mother wouldn't fire her own son, especially for the biggest party of the year," he joked, making Marinette giggle again. The sound reminded Adrien of a silver bell, jingling from the breeze of an angel's wing flapping.
"I'm really excited for the party. I know it's still like a month away, but that'll go by before we know it. Oh, that reminds me," Marinette walked around the blonde elf and up to his darker-skinned friend. "Nino, Alya wanted me to ask you if you knew if you had to work during the party yet?" she asked him.
Alya was another elf their age. She worked in the N&N center with Adrien, not as a profiler though. Her job centered more around researching a child's behavior and personality, then building their profile. Elves like her were the ones who kept tabs on children and reported anything that warranted a possible change on either list.
She was Marinette's best friend, as well as Nino's girlfriend. So Alya really wanted to spend the party with her boyfriend.
There were other DJ elves so there were a lot of them to take turns every year and/or substitute for each other during events. Nino was part of the altering DJs for the Christmas Eve Spectacular last year, which meant he DJ-ed for a little while then another elf took over so he could party. Just like Adrien and the other elves who played piano.
"We just had a meeting about that. They picked serval elves to take shifts during the party and my name didn't come up, so I'm free the whole night," Nino told her. He wasn't upset though. He was glad to just chill during the party with his friends and lovely girlfriend.
"Great! I'll let Alya know she'll have her man all to herself on Christmas Eve," Marinette said happily.
Glancing quickly behind her to his blonde best friend who was in the middle of drinking from his mug, Nino had an idea. "You can hang with us, Marinette, if you're not too busy during the party. Or, do you have your own date?" Adrien almost choked on his cocoa hearing those words.
Nino, on the other hand, grinned, hoping that set his best friend up to not only know whether if Marinette already had a date or not, but possibly also allow him an opening to ask her since the subject was present.
Marinette just shrugged. "I'm just supposed to help my parents and the Baker Elves set up the buffet tables but that's it. I don't have a date or anything." She wasn't all that concerned about having a date. She was happy celebrating the holiday and all their hard work with her dear friends. Still, she thought it might be nice if someone had asked her. "So if you guys don't mind, I'd love to spend the party with you and Alya."
Hearing Marinette say she didn't already have a date left Adrien so relieved, he could melt into slush. But that relief was quickly replaced with anxiousness.
This was his chance! If she didn't already have a date, then there was a greater chance that she would say yes if he asked her. But there was still the chance she'd say no if she just wanted to spend the party with only friends.
Still, he was tired of being afraid. He liked Marinette a lot and it was about time he showed it.
Setting his nearly empty mug on the table, Adrien took a deep breath.
"Actually…Marinette!" he said a bit louder than he intended. Marinette turned around, staring at him, slightly startled. "Ugh," he stuttered under her wide-eyed, sapphire stare.
Sweet gumdrops, she was cute!
"Adrien?" she asked, a bit concerned.
The blonde elf swallowed before putting his mug down. He could do this! "I…I'd like to…if you would…we could maybe-" he stopped, rethinking his words before he made a complete idiot of himself. After a deep but quick breath, he tried again. "While I'm not playing the piano, I could use some company during the party," he finally managed to say clearly.
Marinette just looked at him. "Oh. You wanna join Nino, Alya, and I?"
Shoot. That wasn't what he had meant. Sure, he'd like to hang with Nino and Alya during the party but that wasn't the point he was trying to make.
More determined, Adrien took another deep breath.
"No," he said seriously. Marinette looked puzzled. Adrien quickly realized that might have been a bit too blunt. "Sorry. I mean…what I meant was…" he backtracked nervously but ended up stuttering again. Adrien sighed. He could do this. He just had to have faith in himself. He cared about Marinette and believed she would at least give him a chance. All he had to do was ask. "Marinette," he said gently, one of his hands reaching up to hold her empty hand tenderly in his. Marinette looked down at their joined hands, a glowing warmth coming to her cheeks, before looking back up at his kind face. "Would you like to go to the Christmas Eve Spectacular… with me?"
Marinette lightly gasped. No one had ever asked her to anything like that before. Let alone the biggest party of the year. At least, not in that way. "As your friend?" she asked hesitantly.
Adrien was so sweet, smart, funny, and handsome. Like, sooooooo handsome. Why would he pick her out of all the other prettier and more interesting elf girls in the North Pole?
Adrien's brow creased a bit. That wasn't what he meant either. He lightly shook his head. "I was thinking more as…my date," he corrected her, giving her a sweet grin. Marinette gasped again, feeling her hand being squeezed a bit in his. Misjudging her silence and startled expression, Adrien backtracked again. "But we can go as just friends if you'd rather!" he said in a panic, letting go of her hand like a hot piece of coal.
The last thing he wanted was to pressure her and make her feel uncomfortable.
If just friends was all that she wanted, than he was willing to except that.
However, Marinette smiled back at him, quickly downed the rest of her cocoa in two gulps before putting her mug on the table, turned back to him, took one of his hands with hers, and the other, she raised up to his face.
As her soft hand caressed his flaming hot cheek, Adrien looked down at her with wide emerald eyes.
"I'd love to be your date, Adrien," she told him warmly.
Adrien could say nothing after that. He could not believe what his pointy ears had just told his brain.
She'd love to.
That's what he thinks she said.
Marinette also said nothing more before taking her hands back—making both Adrien's cheek and hand feel slightly colder. She waved to him cutely, then walked off, back toward the bakery.
As Adrien's eyes followed her as she walked across the room, he could vaguely hear Nino speaking beside him but didn't understand a word. He could barely even tell if they were words at all.
His brain echoed with one simple bit of information while nothing new went in;
He had asked Marinette Dupain-Cheng to the Christmas Eve Spectacular…
…and she had said yes.
Adrien's face went from shocked to absolute joy.
He had a date with Marinette!