Her uncle's answer to everything was "Go snuggle with a croc."
Feeling down?
"Go snuggle with a croc."
Low on inspiration?
"Curl up against that croc. It'll hit you, I guarantee it!"
Bored?
"Well, then why don't you give Fang a bath?"
Well, mostly his answer to everything was to snuggle up to a croc.
But sometimes it just didn't work. Especially when she had money grabbing Bob hanging close, watching her like a starved wolf, and ready to judge and tear apart whatever design she's about to show him simply because he really didn't care to have a random girl that wasn't even related to the rock star here and hanging around just because said rock star wanted her there.
So no matter how much she leaned against Fang, with his scaly body wrapped around her; she couldn't get the creative juices flowing, not with Bob constantly glaring at her, just waiting to say how horrible her designs were, or how they wouldn't work and nobody would like them.
Marinette bit the end of her pencil, miffed.
Snuggling up with a croc wasn't helping her right now.
She's starting to consider fleeing to the park.
Jagged burst into the room, shouting, "I'm free!"
And Fang ripped away from her, racing to his owner and leaving the girl to drop to the floor. Marinette blew a raspberry after the huge reptile before lifting up her sketchbook, looking at the latest designs. She had a sunglasses design down, inspired by the Eiffel Tower, a maybe new jacket, and just started playing around with a possible album cover.
"Fang!" Jagged gushed from across the room, bending down to scratch the croc's jaw. "How's my Fangy Wangy? Were you a good boy? Yes? Yes you were! Ooooh whose the cutest boy? Aw, thank you for the kisses!"
Bob cleared his throat, grimacing. "M Stone," he called out, "I wouldn't suggest letting your... pet bite your head."
"He's giving kisses," Marinette corrected, not tearing her eyes away from the page. "Not biting."
"It looks like biting. And it was bad enough that he gave that reporter a scare."
"Hey!" Marinette cried, pointing to Bob, shooting him a scowl, "She was the one that was getting too personal!" And now poor Fang couldn't sit with the rockstar during interviews.
Bob wrinkled his nose down at her.
She scrunched her own back at him.
She really had to wonder why her Uncle tolerated him.
Bob just cared about money, and what was popular made money.
Twice now he's tried to pressure her into designing an album cover similar to XY's. And into making more styled, colorful, and simpler clothes that would match the latest trends. And like before, he doesn't think having her around was good for business. A child making album covers and being his designer? What would the world think of the rockstar?
Adrien thought it was cool.
Penny was fine with the arrangement.
Jagged Stone was certainly fine with it, actually encouraged it. The rockstar always had something to offer her when she asked for a critique or review. That was just who her adopted uncle was. He saw creative talent and potential, he encouraged it.
He was one of the reasons she's gotten so good so far.
Turning away from Bob, she rolled onto her stomach and biting on the end of her pencil as she considered the designs below.
What else could she do?
A shiny ivory boot stole her sketchbook away, making Marinette squeak in alarm. Jumping up she went after it, yowling and cursing as the man lifted it up, out of her reach and grimacing at her doodles.
"Give that back!" she snarled, leaping up and grabbing his arm, trying to scale up the taller man.
Curse the shortness!
"Seriously Bob?" Jagged called from across the room.
"I've been telling you for a while now that we should be getting a professional artist, and designer. These scribbles are inadequate."
"They're not scribbles!" Marinette snapped, growling as Bob shook her off.
As if to back up his point, Bob showed the page to the rockstar, lightly reprimanding, "Just because she's one of your first fans doesn't mean you have to humor her. Look at this, we can get far better work this. Professional work. XY and other artists have certainly made a few comments..."
Marinette scowled at Bob's back.
Jagged raised a very high brow at his producer.
Taking the sketchbook from Bob, he walked around him and slung an arm around Marinette's shoulders, holding the book a little before them as they walked deeper into the room. Fang crawled after him, sparing Bob a warning hiss, making the producer jerk back.
Pursing his lips as he eyed each drawing she had on the page, Jagged tapped on the sunglasses. "I want those." His finger slid over to the doodle of what had to be him, roughly sketched out, his fist in the air. He tapped it. "Let me see that a little more polished, preferably with color." He slid over to the jacket last. "That looks a little on the stiff side, Skipping Stone."
"Loosen it?" she guessed.
"Yeah. I'm going to be moving around on stage, I need attire that will allow me to move easy. And preferably breathe easy. It gets hot up there."
"On it!" she declared, snatching her sketchbook up and dash to the couch. Grabbing a purse full of colored pencils, she called, "Heading to the park," and dashed away before either men could call out to her.
Jagged wasn't bothered. Grabbing a red hula hoop, he twirled it, cooing down to the croc, "Who wants to do some tricks?"
Fang wiggled, tongue hanging out as he beamed.
"Jagged Stone!" Bob huffed, waving his arms in exaggeration.
The rockstar spared him a glance, raising a dark brow. "Bob," he started, "people are always going to talk. There's always talk about something. If not Mari, I'm sure they'd talk about Fang." The crocodile snapped his jaws, snorting. "Or my hair. There's always something that they're talking about. I don't care." He threw the hula hoop across the room, an amused smile gracing his lips as Fang flew after it. "They can say what they want."
It was worth it to help develop that potential.
"Oh that is such a good boy!" Jagged gushed as the croc brought the hoop back.
Neither paid attention to the producer as he stomped off, grumbling under breath.
Maybe he really should look for a new one.
After a few tricks first.
"Oh come on Fang! Lets jump through the hoop! I know you can!"