Mari was a nervous wreck for the entire day. She'd been bouncing her leg while she designed, tripped over the rug in her office, spilled the coffee she was drinking into her lap. She was a mess, to say the least. Damian had mocked her relentlessly, letting her know exactly how ridiculous she was being.
She was coming over for dinner to show them all her work for the week and to get his pseudo sisters measurements. There was nothing to be stressed out about, according to him. However, he could not see the dozen scenarios going through her mind at the current moment. Mr. Wayne could take one look at her and deem she needed to leave and lose her scholarship. He could look at her work and think it was the worst thing he'd ever seen. She could mess up her English during dinner and say something incredibly offensive.
In short, there was a lot that could go wrong in her mind. This is what led to her pacing her apartment at 5:00, trying to calm down and finding no reasonable way to do so. Tikki had attempted to help, but really only made things worse because she compared this situation to something that had happened on one of her reality tv shows. Marinette knew they were scripted to work out for the main characters in the end, but Tikki didn't know that, and Mari couldn't break the poor god's heart by telling her that.
She'd also changed twice because her first outfit had felt entirely too business and then the second outfit had felt entirely too casual. She thought she might be in some weird happy medium place, but wasn't sure of that either. Black slim fitting jeans, light pink almond toe heels, and an oxford button up in light pink tucked into her jeans.
A knock at the door told her her ride was there. She was working on securing her own means of transportation, but realistically that wouldn't be helpful for transporting this much clothes either. Tim had had someone take the rack of finished clothing to his home earlier in the day.
Mari gave herself a good shake, wiggling a bit in place, and picked up her purse to leave. She opened it and gave Plagg a silent command, watching as he zipped inside. Opening the door, she smiled at seeing Tim there. He'd volunteered to pick her up from her apartment earlier that day.
"Hello, Monsieur Drake," she greeted, turning and closing her apartment door behind her after double checking she had everything she needed.
"Hey, Marinette," he said, not bothering to correct her. At this point he was used to her forgetting to call him Tim. "You ready to go?"
She smiled and nodded, patting her pocket one last time to make sure her phone was in there before dropping her keys into her purse. "Let's get this show on the road."
If Mari had any predecessor thoughts as to what Wayne Manor looked like, they were about spot on. It was large and ominous, just as every other billionaire's home was. Cold looking, oppressive, not much color to the outside of it. Large windows that probably had metal shutters that closed everyone in and made it nearly impossible to leave -
"Marinette?" Tim asked, moving a hand to rest on her shoulder. She'd gone stock still when they stepped outside of his car, staring at the house in what he thought was fear. At first it seemed like she was just shocked at the size of it, most people were. But her eyes had a bit of a haunted look to them - it reminded him too much of Jason.
Mari shook her head, shaking the thoughts away. "Sorry, it's just not everyday you see a house this big," she said, trying to push away the thoughts plaguing her. It's not the same here as it was there. You will not be attacked tonight.
She tried to convince herself that tonight would be just fine, but like earlier it wasn't really going that well. She felt Plagg nudge her purse against her side and took a deep breath, remembering that no matter what happened she wasn't alone.
At the top of the stairs a very distinguished looking gentleman stood, and Mari instantly recognized his aura. He'd been a past user of Trixx, the fox miraculous. Whether he knew anything now though was up in the air. "Good evening, Miss Dupain-Cheng, Master Drake."
"Salut," Mari said, smiling at the man. As guardian, she could tell things from the auras of past users. She knew this man was fiercely loyal and kind, and she knew that he would do anything for those he cared for. "Please, just call me Mari. You must be Alfred."
She'd heard a lot of good things about Alfred from Damian over the past week, mainly that his cooking could put anyone to shame. She'd have to taste it to believe it though.
"Indeed," he said, gesturing for her to come inside. "Dinner will be served in an hour and a half. The others have gathered in the living room."
And with that he was gone, off to the kitchen Mari presumed. She was led into the living room by Tim, and promptly swarmed. "Can I open the bag now? Can I?" Dick yelled in her face, his eyes wide and excited like a child.
Mari screeched, almost falling back but stopped by a hand on her back that just made her jump sideways. She was terrified for a moment, thrown back into one of the akuma battles before realizing where she was again. "Please don't do that," she requested, righting herself and ignoring the concerned look on Tim's face. "You may open the garment bag now."
Dick ran off then, going to the rack of clothes by the side of the room and grabbing his off of it. He unzipped it and started pulling out the clothes one by one, smiling brightly at each piece.
"Hey, nice to see you in person," Steph said from the couch, standing and making her way over. She noticed that Marinette did not like being crowded or rushed up to so she made sure her moves were measured and clear. "Did you want to get the measurements done now?"
Mari smiled and nodded, glad for the distraction from how she was feeling at that moment. She was feeling tightly wound, like one wrong move would send her into a spiral. She took her measuring tape out of her purse and her tablet, setting them both on the table before moving the girl where she needed her.
She focused on the measurements, keeping track of where other people were in the room based on sound alone. The boys were all looking at their new clothing still. Dick was like an energizer bunny with how he bounced around looking at all of them. Jason was simply looking at it all with a raised eyebrow before packing it away. Tim seemed pleased with the work, if not a little tired based on the sluggish pattern of his movements.
Damian was the most hard to read, taking each hanger out and looking briefly before hanging it on the rack to take out the next. All in all she hadn't made too much for each of them. Four of five pieces. Two shirts, two pairs of dress pants and a hoodie.
Damian pulled out his hoodie last, a simple black fabric with a large pouch in the front. He couldn't figure out what the pouch was for though. He turned to Marinette, holding it up in question.
Mari smiled, pausing in her movements. "The pouch is for Alfred the Cat. The design comforts them and they generally just hang out and sleep even when you're moving," she explained, going back to the measurements.
She finished with Stephanie and Cass's measurements as quickly as possible, and then it seemed to turn into 21 questions with only her giving answers. At some point Damian had put on the hoodie and found his cat, sticking him in the pouch after allowing Marinette to meet him. They were gathered on the seats now, Marinette sitting on an armchair in the corner so she could see them all.
"So what's Paris like?" Dick asked, smiling wide.
"It's alright, just like any other city really. I suppose it gets more tourism than Gotham, though," she said, smirking at the thought.
"Even with a magical terrorist?" Damian asked. He would look aloof and bored if not for the cat head sticking out of a hole in his stomach. Alfred was staring into her very soul it seemed, blinking slowly.
"The mayor seemingly had a stop on all news covering the akuma attacks and our heroes," Mari explained. "I looked into it. No coverage of it was ever released out of the country. Any tourists coming into the country were made to sign NDAs? I don't know the specifics. I just know it was on the down below to anyone outside the city."
"Down below?" Jason asked, brow furrowed.
"Uh," Mari paused, trying to figure out what was wrong with her translation. "Kept quiet."
"So, how did they explain the damages?" Steph asked, taking a cracker from the platter on the table and popping it into her mouth.
"Oh, there were none."
"Casualties?" Jason asked, seemingly getting more and more confused.
"I think I should just tell you about Ladybug," Mari said, taking one of the crackers and nibbling on it nervously. "Ladybug was given her power by a miraculous - a piece of ancient jewelry that gave the holder special abilities. No one knows who she was, how she was given it, or any of that."
"And she was the leader?" Dick asked, looking engrossed in the story.
Mari nodded. "Her power was the miracle cure. Any damages done by an akuma were reversed when the battle ended because of this. Even death."
Do you forget? Cass signed to her, making sure she was looking first.
Mari smiled sadly at that. "No."
"Did you-" Jason started, before getting interrupted by a new voice at the door.
"I don't think that's a polite thing to ask our guest, Jason," the man said. He was tall, about Dick's height with a serene smile. His eyes were calculating though, and Mari knew he was simply putting on a front. "You must be Marinette."
"Monsieur Wayne," Mari said, standing quickly and brushing the invisible dirt off herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
He smiled the fake smile again, gesturing for everyone to follow. "Please, call me Bruce."
When Mari got home that night she was exhausted. She'd been mildly at ease around Bruce's children, but everything about him reminded her of Gabriel Agreste. The stiff posture and personality, the calculating look in his eyes, the false persona he put forward. She didn't like him, and being around him was draining.
She didn't like going to the manor all that much either. It brought forward too many unpleasant memories. Being in the living room was fine, but there were still too many doors and windows and people in it. She much preferred to be in her apartment, where she could see all angles and entrances.
Maybe as time went on she'd get used to the large building, but at the moment it was terrifying to be in. She slumped against her apartment door, staring off at the couch in thought. She didn't hear Plagg or Tikki talking to her, all she could hear were his final words.
"Please, Ladybug. Don't do this. I need my mom back," he'd said, pleading with her as he cried while she took the ring.
"I'm sorry," she whispered into the silent apartment, closing her eyes and leaning back, trying to forget.