"It's almost time to board, sweetie," Sabine said, jogging Marinette from her thoughts.
Marinette sighed, feeling a little bit sad now that it was actually time to go. She would miss her maman and papa more than anything else in the world, but she knew she needed this too. She turned around, a watery smile on her face. "I'm going to miss you," she said, hugging her mother tightly.
She'd already said goodbye to her papa that morning, considering he had to stay behind with their new part timer and help at the bakery. She wouldn't want them to close for her anyways. They'd had a big feast the night before, hanging out watching her favorite movies well into the night.
"You're sure you've got everything you need? You remembered to go to the bank and change over your money?" her mother asked, once again patting the girl down to make sure her phone was in her pocket and her wallet in her inside jacket pocket.
"Yes, maman," Mari said lightly, knowing how worried they were for her and not getting the slightest bit embarrassed. "I went to the bank two days ago. I sent over my boxes to my landlord last week and called to make sure they arrived. They're in my apartment, along with the furniture we had delivered."
"And you have a map of the city saved on your phone? In case you don't have a signal?" Sabine asked, sure that there was something Marinette had to be forgetting. If she forgot something, they would just have to get her a new flight later on in the week.
"I have a paper one as well, and I saved the locations of the nearest grocery stores, hardware stores, and convenience stores. I know my address by heart, and the bus route from school to home and work," Marinette said, placing her hands on her mothers shoulders now. "I'll be fine. I'll miss you too, but I'll be fine."
Now boarding, flight 287 for Atlantic City International Airport, was heard overhead, and Sabine felt the need to cry once more. She grabbed Mari in a tight hug, holding on tight. "Don't forget to pick up your new phone the moment you get there, and call me once you can."
Marinette smiled and hugged her just as tightly. "I love you too," she said, pulling away and heading towards the gates for her plane. She turned around and gave her maman a big wave, nearly skipping as she went.
The plane ride was one of the worst things Marinette had ever had to deal with, and knew that in the future she would just be using Kaalki, the horse kwami, to get to and from Paris. She would've done so to get there too, if she'd known that she'd be seated next to a man who couldn't mind her personal space. Well, she'd obviously also need to know what the inside of her apartment looked like and she hadn't seen it yet so that also knocked that plan out of the water.
Finally, she thought, spotting her luggage on the conveyor belt. Two suitcases held all of the most important things that she didn't want to ship, lest they get lost in the mail. She would've stuffed her sewing machine in too had the thing not passed the weight limits on the bags.
Of course, the miracle box was stuffed into her backpack and hadn't left her side once. She hadn't even slept, ensuring that no one took her bag out of the luggage rack above her.
Stepping out of the airport, she was met with a bright sunny day, but she knew it wouldn't last long. It was almost always overcast in Gotham, and she had gotten off in Atlantic City. She still had an hour bus ride to go until she could walk the five minutes to her apartment.
Luckily the school had provided her with an apartment close to the middle of both the university and Wayne Enterprises. According to the map she'd been provided with, she would be in the diamond district, almost equidistant from the two. She'd already circled the bus stops she'd need to get on to get to both of the buildings.
She'd been hired as the head designer for the company about two days after getting her acceptance letter, giving her maman and papa even more reasons to hug her and twirl her around their home. The pay was pretty good, and considering she wouldn't have to pay rent thanks to the Martha and Thomas scholarship she'd been awarded, she was hoping she'd be able to put quite a bit into her savings over the next few years.
She hopped on the bus once she spotted it, handing her ticket she'd printed from home to the driver and taking a seat towards the back so she could see every person that got on. The old Marinette would've sat anywhere, but these days she was more aware of her surroundings. She needed to be able to see everything happening in order to feel secure where she was.
At last, the bus lurched forward and drove off. Mari took a moment to open her purse and smile fondly at the sleeping kwamis. Tikki rested peacefully against Plagg, both snoozing away throughout almost the entire trip. Carefully, she pulled her phone away from them and turned it on, checking the time. 14:23, which meant it was a little after 8 o'clock here.
I'll have to pick up some coffee before I go grocery shopping and grab my new phone, she figured, knowing that she'd have to stay up until at least 10 if she wanted to get rid of the jet lag as soon as possible.
Climbing off the bus with her suitcases in tow, she quickly made her way down the street towards the address on her map.
When she got to the building, she looked up and could've sworn she had the wrong place. Across the side of the building said "Wayne Apartments", which she swore was way out of her budget and there wasn't a real possibility of the school putting her somewhere so fancy. Right?
Shrugging, she walked in, figuring if she had the wrong place they might be able to tell her where to go.
She walked up to the front desk, smiling at the woman sitting there. "Hello," she said, her accent slightly thick as she switched to English. "I'm not sure I have the right building. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
The woman's eyes seemed to light up in recognition. "Of course!" she said, standing up and reaching into a drawer behind her. "We're very excited to have you staying with us, Miss Dupain-Chang. It's not every day that we get someone from another country coming to stay in Gotham!"
Mari couldn't help but smile. "Thank you," she said, waiting patiently as the woman pulled out a stack of papers. "I really thought I'd gotten lost for a moment there. Gotham University is really giving me a home here?"
The woman smiled and nodded, passing over the papers. "But, of course. Because the scholarship is supported by Wayne Enterprises, they also provide the housing in order to keep those costs off of the school itself," she said. "Oh! How silly of me, my name is Chloe. I'll be here to help you whenever you need it."
Mari smiled and nodded, taking the papers from her and putting her suitcases down next to her. She saw that it was a standard contract, stating what room she'd be in and floor, what was allowed and what could get her kicked out, etc. "Where do I sign?" she asked, looking for the spot on the papers.
"No need, the contract is with the school and not you directed," she said, walking around the counter and picking up one of the suitcases. "If you'll follow me."
Mari nodded, picking up the heavier of the two bags with ease and following the chipper young woman. She was certainly a lot nicer than the other Chloe she'd known back in France. They walked up to a set of elevators and paused.
"You're on the tenth floor, a good middle ground for the building and still with quite the view," Chloe told her, walking over to the second elevator. "This elevator goes to your floors, and you'll need your key card to open the doors."
She pulled out a key card and showed her how it worked before stepping in and handing it to the girl. "The elevator is also voice activated, so that no one who doesn't live on your floor can get onto that floor unless you're with them or you tell us they'll be coming up."
Marinette nodded, feeling more and more reassured as Chloe spoke. All the security measures may have felt over the top to any other outsider, but she'd done her research. She knew how dangerous the city could be.
They added her into the system and then they were on her floor, standing in a long hallway. "There are only three other apartments on this floor, but it's very unlikely that you'll see them often. They all have secondary homes and use these when they don't feel like making the drive."
"Is that usual for this building?" Mari asked, following her to the door that she assumed was hers.
"No, not generally. We did however chose the location based upon your own safety and comfort. Having your own space like this can be intimidating, especially coming from another country. This will ensure that there's very little chance of you being in danger," she said, handing her the key to the door. "If you ever lose that key for any reason, let the front desk know and they will have the locks changed and give you a new key."
Mari nodded, putting the key into the lock and turning, finally opening the door to her new apartment. She was immediately shocked at how bright the room was. Considering the outside architecture of the building, she imagined it would be much darker on the inside. Instead, she walked into a warmly lit hallway, covered almost to the ceiling in boxes.
"Your boxes have all been placed in the hallway for you, as we did not know how you would like to arrange the rooms. I'll leave you to it, feel free to come downstairs if you have any questions at all," Chloe said, smiling brightly before letting herself out.
Mari waved goodbye before making her way around the large boxes to finally see the actual apartment. When she got around them, she saw that it was an open space design, with a large living and dining area, and a kitchen just as big as the one in her parents home. The appliances were all there, and she knew in one of her boxes were the other things she would wasn't much else to the place. The kitchens had marble countertops and the whole living area had an earthy tone to it that she liked. The walls were a deep green and the furniture in shades of brown. The floors were hardwood, making her wonder if she could slide across them if she wore fuzzy socks. There really wasn't much besides the basic necessities in the room, and a pretty nice TV.
She knew this would be how it was though. That's why she'd bought some extra furniture pieces herself and a whole bunch of little trinkets to make it feel more like home. She'd only really asked what colors the walls were in her apartment when she'd asked the school about it, and thinking back she probably should've asked them other things too. She'd been a bit overwhelmed by it all though.
As much as she wanted and needed to do this, it was terrifying. New country where her first language wasn't regularly spoken, didn't use the currency she was used to, and didn't have the same general attitude either. People were far more abrasive here than in her home country she'd noticed. She hadn't seen a single person smiling after getting off the bus for Gotham.
Walking further in, she found the bedroom door next to the kitchen, opening up into a fairly sized space with a large bed in the middle. The two doors in this room led to a small walk in closet and a decent sized bathroom with a walk in shower. Mildly sad she wouldn't be able to take a bubble bath in her new home, she shook the thought away and continued walking around.
She took a seat on the bed, laying back with her feet dangling over the edge. It was pretty comfy, and she liked the colors in her room. A deep blue covered the walls, with grey ceilings and a white carpet on the floor. She'd have to be sure to never bring her screen printing supplies in the bedroom.
"Tikki, Plagg, what do you guys think?" Marinette called to them from where they were hiding in her purse. She gave a spin around the room, taking it all in with a smile. It was well and truly hers.
The two kwamis zipped out, going around at the speed of light to look at everything. Eventually they came back, setting on the bed next to her.
"It's very cozy," Tikki said, a smile on her face as she settled down.
"It's alright, I guess," Plagg said, shrugging his shoulders.
Marinette smiled at them, knowing they were excited in their own ways. And besides, the miraculous had been in Paris for too long as it was. "I'm going to go out and pick up my new phone and computer, do you want to come with me or stay here?"
They seemed to consider this for a moment before turning to her in sync. "We think you should keep the black cat miraculous with you in the city, considering ladybug would be connected to Paris and you wouldn't look like Chat Noir with the ring," Tikki said, smiling hesitantly at the girl in front of her.
Mari considered it for a moment. New home, new country, new hero, she thought, before nodding. "That sounds like a safe idea to me, Tiks," she said, giving the kwami a little pat on the head. "Did you want to spend some time in the miracle box with the other kwamis?"
Tikki shook her head, floating up. "No, I think I'll just hang around for a bit. I'll let you know if I decide to be with the others," she said, floating out of the room to do who knows what.
"After we get your weird electronics, can we go grocery shopping?" Plagg asked, floating closer to Mari's face.
She considered it. "How about this? We go to the store to get what I need, drop it off and then after that we'll pick up dinner from somewhere that has italian. I heard American's make garlic bread with melted cheese on it!"
Plagg zipped around her, pleased with the answer. "Sounds like a plan to me, squirt!"
She was exhausted by the time they were heading back to the apartment. It was only mid-afternoon, at the most, but she'd had to go to like three different stores as it turns out. She'd gone to the store that she'd ordered her computer and phone from, brought that home. Then she'd gone to the supermarket, gotten all the food she needed and brought that home. Then she'd gone to the hardware store to get all the cleaning supplies she'd needed.
Now she was heading back to the apartment building, tugging four shopping bags across both her arms filled to the brim with everything she might need.
"Are we almost there," Plagg whined in her ear from where he was sitting in the hood of her jacket.
"Shh," Mari whispered, walking as quickly as she could. She didn't want to look crazy in this city, where almost anyone and everyone could very well be crazy. She didn't want to attract any more attention than she already was, a young woman walking alone in the streets of Gotham.
And then the most annoying thing that could've happened, did. A man walked out of the alley, broad and only a little bit taller than her. Unknown to her, his black and white jacket was a dead give away for most of the Gotham residents that he was a henchman for two face.
"Whatcha got there little lady?" he asked, stepping forward to her. He didn't necessarily look threatening at the moment, but that didn't mean anything.
Mari smiled, lifting her arms and trying to play dumb. "Cleaning supplies," she said, and knew that her accent was a dead give away from her being out of town. "I just moved here, have to clean the new apartment."
She'd been smiling brightly the whole time, trying to make it seem like she wasn't worried about him in the slightest in hopes it would keep him from trying to rob her or something.
"You need help carrying that stuff to your building?" the guy asked, smiling back at her.
"Oh no, that's very kind of you! It's just around the corner now," she said, and spotted the dog at his side. She immediately put her bags down and leaned over to let him sniff her hand. "What a cutie!"
The man smiled, nodding. "This is Ella, she's my kids puppy. I'm just taking her for a walk before I go to work," he said, happy that the dog was getting attention.
"What a lucky kid then, to have such a cute puppy and a dad to give her one," Mari smiled, standing after giving the puppy a sufficient amount of pets.
The man seemed to puff up and began telling her all about his little girl and how proud of her he was. How at just six years old she was already so smart and was definitely going places. Mari listened to all of it with a wide smile on her face, nearly lighting up with the mans words.
"She sounds like a delight, Marvin!" she said, picking up her bags. "I'd stay and chat some more, but I've got a lot of unpacking to do!"
"You have a great day, Marinette. And be safe, don't go outside alone if it's dark out," he advised, smiling softly at the young girl in front of him.
With another wave, she walked around the corner and towards her apartment. Little did she know, she'd just started her streak of making normally aggressive people like her.
Grumpy Gothamites Collected Unknowingly: 1