"Do you often look so casual in the workplace?"
Mari startled, nearly dropping her tablet onto the floor but catching it last minute. Looking up, she was momentarily distracted by the handsome man in front of her. He looked to be about her age, with striking blue eyes and hair so dark it could've blended with the shadows.
Unfortunately, his strikingly good looks were not enough to distract her from his very rude entrance. She raised an eyebrow, feeling a mask slide into place that would only show professionalism. She wasn't going to rise to the bait he so clearly had left out, expecting her to anger or become bitter.
She stood, putting her drawing tablet down next to her. Walking up to him, she held out a hand. "You must be Mr. Wayne," she said, smiling a barely there smile. "My name is Marinette, I'll be taking your measurements today."
When he didn't take the offered hand, she withdrew her own and simply went to get the tape measure out of her bag. "If you wouldn't mind," she said, gesturing for him to step into the room to wear the lighting was best.
"I would mind, considering that our last stylist took our measurements less than three months ago," he said, arms crossed and regarding her with a challenge in his eyes.
Are they all going to say that when they stop by today? She thought to herself, shaking her head slightly. "Considering the fact that she is gone and I am here, I do not find myself wanting to copy her measurements. I don't know who she was as a designer, but it would be foolish of me to trust the work of someone I've never met," she pointed out, waiting for him to come over to where she was standing.
Damian said nothing and gave nothing away with his expression, merely regarding her for at least a full minute before he stepped over to where she was waiting.
There was a full ten minutes of silence before Marinette spoke again. "Is there anything specific I should know about your style? Besides what was in the folder I read," she asked, her arms going around his waist and quickly taking note of the number there.
"I highly doubt it," he said, looking down at her without a hint of politeness in his tone.
"Do you prefer knitwear to button ups? Would you rather wear low rise or high rise pants? Is there a specific neckline that you're more comfortable with?" she asked rhetorically, not actually needing an answer. She had a pretty good read on him without his answers. "There really are a lot of things to consider when making someone's clothes, but comfort is above all else. Your doubt that anything is missing, while admirable, is a bit silly."
"Did you just call me silly?" he asked, looking at her completely baffled.
Mari felt her mask slip a little as she giggled. "Well, obviously. You clearly don't want to be here, and yet you refuse to tell me anything about you. How am I supposed to make something you enjoy without knowing anything about you?"
He seemed to freeze at the sound of her giggle, every thought in his mind coming to a halt. His first impression of her was that she would be as annoying as the last designer they'd had, who'd been fired for selling photos of them that she supposedly took for reference to a tabloid magazine. That laugh though… it gave him the urge to hear it again.
While Marinette knew it probably wasn't smart to tease her boss, she really just wanted him to let loose a little. Plus, it was very hard to tell what kind of clothes someone enjoys when they're so closed off with you.
It was quiet for a moment again, and then she was done taking his measurements. "All done," she said, taking a step back and looking down at her tablet. She was busy putting the measurements into the little profile she'd made for him, not really paying him much mind now. From what she'd seen of his attitude, she highly doubted he'd be sticking around for much longer anyways.
"I have a lot of pets," he suddenly said, pausing when she looked back up at him curiously. "I don't think knitwear would be good."
Mari smiled a little. Nevermind, not a jerk. Just socially awkward. I can work with that, she thought to herself. "I'll keep that in mind. You don't have any," she paused, waving her hands at him in general trying to think of the word. She gave up and just switched back to french. Tim had said they all knew it. " Fur. You don't have any fur on your clothes. "
Damian nodded. "I keep a lint roller on my person," he said, pulling a small one out of his pocket. "Is English hard for you?"
Marinette shook her head. "Not always. Some words are just a bit off for me, and I don't remember them."
"I see," he said, and Mari could swear she saw his lip twitching in amusement. "Do you know any other languages?"
She nodded, smiling brightly at that. " Oui , I know Mandarin, Sign Language, Italian and Arabic," she said, happy with her own skills.
Damian was shocked by this. Most people didn't bother past learning two languages, or in his mind, had the skill to do so. She certainly was getting more and more interesting. "Why those four?"
"Ah! Well, my mother is Chinese, so she always speaks it to me. My fathers mother lives in Italy, so she prefers to use Italian when speaking. Sign Language is helpful for being inclusive to those with disabilities. Arabic was really just something I learned when I got bored," she said, looking back down at her tablet. "What kinds of pets do you have? I have always wanted a pet, but maman said it was against the health code to have one above the bakery."
Damian nodded, thinking over what she said. He had been trying to find a home for the kittens that came from Alfred the Cat and Selena the Cat. Selena the Cat was a new addition to the Wayne household, not that his father knew that yet. Alfred the Cat had seemingly gotten into a bit of trouble with a neighborhood strays, and now there was a litter of kittens in his room.
"I think I have a proposition that would benefit the both of us," he eventually said a few minutes later.
Mari had gone back to the design on her tablet, sitting down at her desk. She seemed to get the impression that Damian would leave whenever he had run out of questions to ask. Looking up, she raised an eyebrow. "You can take a seat, you know," she said, gesturing to the couch to the side of the room.
Damian hummed, walking to the couch and sitting down. "I seem to have acquired a litter of kittens," he started. "My father wouldn't be happy to figure this out, but I've been having trouble finding a home for them. Two of my friends are willing to take in a kitten, but there are still two more."
Mari nodded, looking up at him. "Are you asking me to take in these two kittens?"
"Obviously," he said, rolling his eyes.
"You don't know anything about me," she pointed out. "Isn't that a little bit dangerous? For the kittens?"
He raised an eyebrow. "I know where you live, I can always check up on them," he pointed out.
Of course he does, Mari thought, rolling her eyes. It was in the employment information she'd filled out and sent in the other day. "Isn't it highly inappropriate to show up to an employee's home without their consent?"
Damian just raised an eyebrow, ignoring her question and waiting for an answer to the one he asked.
She sighed. "I will take in the kittens, so long as they are old enough to be away from their maman," she said, turning back to her design. "You never answered what kind of pets you have. You seem like the serial adopter type."
Damian almost laughed at that, remembering how Tim had used that exact term in reference to all of his siblings. Instead, he merely quirked a small smile at her before answering. "I have two cats, a dog, a cow, a few snakes, some bats, and a rabbit."
Marinette nodded, smirking to herself. "Serial adopter it is then."
A knock at the door was heard then, and according to her computer this would be Dick Grayson. " Bounjour, Mr. Grayson, please come in," she said, putting her tablet down and standing up.
"How'd you know it was me?" he asked, smiling brightly.
"The program on the computer said you would be in next, so I assumed," she said, shaking his hand.
Damian was already rolling his eyes, he could hear the words that were about to come out of his brother's mouth. You're adorable! How tall are you? 5 feet?
"You're adorable! Look how short you are!" Dick said, shaking her tiny hand in his own.
Close enough, he figured, watching how Miss Dupain-Cheng would respond. He could see the tightness in her features, barely there but obvious if you were as trained at reading people as he and his family were. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but it was probably that Dick wasn't taking her seriously.
"Yes well, I know how tall I am, but we're here to figure out your measurements," Mari said, proceeding smoothly with gesturing to where she wanted him to stand while she took his measurements.
Dick laughed outright at that, smiling brightly still despite her somewhat reserved nature. He could tell that she was just putting on a performance, like he would with the Flying Graysons. She didn't trust them, and rightly so. She didn't know any of them yet. But there was something about her that screamed Bruce Wayne would adopt her in a heartbeat, so he decided right then and there he wanted to be her friend.
The fitting had gone as well as it could, considering the fact Mari was almost certain that Dick had ADHD or something from the way he was constantly fidgeting or changing the topic of conversation.
He asked about everything under the sun, whether it be from her former school to how she was liking Gotham to whether she thought spaghetti was better than angel hair pasta. It was, by far, one of the most diverse conversations she's had with a client. Although, her uncle Jagged might beg to differ if he ever came to town.
By the time the fitting was done, Dick had somehow gotten her to give him her cell phone number so that she had someone to talk to who was in the same city as her. He'd also gotten permission from her to give it to all his siblings.
Mari couldn't explain it, but there was something about the Wayne family in general that put her at ease. Maybe it was the way they all seemed to assess a situation before putting themselves into it, like how they examine her room thoroughly and quickly before entering that reminded her of her time as a hero. Or maybe it was the chaos energy she caught swirling around almost all of them, reminding her of the Grumpy Cheese Goblin sitting in her purse ten feet away.
When he left, he took Damian with him, so Mari quickly got to sitting on her couch and kicking off her shoes to work on some designs for the weird trio of brothers she'd encountered today. They would certainly provide a challenge for her when it came to designs. They were all similar in some ways, but completely different in others. Their clashing personalities and similar battle instincts, because really what else should she call their complete awareness of the room, made it hard for her.
Damian and Tim would like similar clothing when it came to colors as far as she could tell, but differing styles. Tim and Dick liked similar styles, but differing colors. She wouldn't be able to use a design on more than one of them, and would have to dedicate each design specifically to the person. When creating an entire wardrobe, it would've been nice to be able to make the same thing in two different colors for two of them, but apparently luck wasn't on her side for this one.
Regardless, Mari still had at least three completed designs for the three boys. For Dick, she had some casual t-shirt designs she thought he would like for when he was home, a button up shirt, and a very colorful bow tie. For Tim she'd managed to design three button up shirts with some minor embroidery that would end with them being slightly more colorful than the ones he was wearing now. She was keeping it professional enough to wear to work, but hopefully colorful enough to brighten his day. She'd also designed a very fun pair of socks for him that would feature Timmy Turner from the Fairly Odd Parents, pretty certain he'd get a kick out of that.
Damian had been a little more difficult to design for. She had immediately designed a kangaroo pouch jacket for him to wear with his cat inside, and a smaller matching jacket for the cat himself to wear. He seemed like while he was very serious he would enjoy the jacket immensely. She'd also decided to make hearself one in her spare time since she was apparently going to be a cat mom. There was also the pair of slacks she'd designed for him, which while it might seem a bit basic, he looked like he'd already outgrown the pair he was wearing today. Not so noticeable to the untrained eye, but she knew that while she was done growing and stuck at her short height, men could grow for much longer than women.
Her phone dinged, letting her know she had an influx of messages that she'd ignored for too long again. She'd had to set it to remind her every hour because she tended to get lost in whatever she was doing and forget to check it.
Damian: Good evening, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I have been given your number by Richard. May I stop by today to see if your apartment is suitable for the kittens?
Mari snorted, reading the message. He texts just as formally as he speaks, it would seem, she thought to herself.
Mari: That should be fine, I will be leaving here soon. Who is Richard? Also, you can refer to me as Marinette.
Damian: Richard is Dick Grayson, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I will see you at 6:00.
Mari rolled her eyes at him ignoring her request, and went to look at the other messages.
Dick: Hey sunshine! This is Dick! Be sure to make sure you text me when you get home safe!
Mari: Will do, thanks!
Tim: Hello Mari, I hope you're having a good first day.
Mari: I am, thank you Mr. Drake.
Stephanie: Hello! This is Stephanie, I'm sorry but myself and Cassandra won't be around for measurements until Friday. I look forward to meeting you though!
Mari: Not a worry! I can start working on minor designs if you're available to discuss that, and hold off working on the actual pieces until after the measurements get taken.
Stephanie: That would be great! I can video call you tomorrow if that works. Cassandra is mute, so she'll be using sign language and I'll translate.
Mari: No need! I know sign language, so I'll be able to understand her just fine.
Jason: I can come in tomorrow for fittings.
Mari: That would work just fine with me, Mr. Todd.
After that there were no other texts. She doubted she would get any calls from her parents until later, considering it was about the time of breakfast rush for them. Content to sit and work for a bit longer, she started to compile the list of fabrics and other supplies she would need to pick up. She could more likely than not be able to get these tomorrow and start some of the designs.
A little while later, looking at the clock she realized it was time to head home. She smiled, picking up her purse and heading out the door.
"Good day, squirt?" Plagg asked from her purse when they entered the empty elevator.
Mari smiled. "Yeah, good day," she said, for the first time in a while thinking that the day had been good in its entirety.