Marinette gently wipes the tender flesh of her ear where the new piercing is. It's red, sore, and a little puffy, but she finds herself grinning at the sight of it.
Her Nonna had promised her another epic gift, as usual, and had especially encouraged something this year as she turned seventeen. The motorcycle had come up again, but while Marinette really appreciated it... she figured a few more years couldn't hurt.
A second piercing seemed more appropriate. Unsurprisingly, it had been nearly as divisive as the motorcycle. When Marinette and her Nona returned from their trip to Naples with a hole (admittedly bloody) in Marinette's ear, the jovial mood had quickly tanked.
Her father took hold of her shoulders, quickly scanned her for any more injuries, and shot a firm look up at his mother. He pulled her Nonna aside, speaking in a very hushed tone as his wife directed their daughter's attention to her, taking the square of gauze Marinette clumsily held to her ear to clean the streak of blood the uncoordinated girl had let slip past.
"Mom, you said you weren't in that anymore."
"I am not."
"Then how did she end up like this? You can't make Marinette–"
"Wai- wha–like what, caro?"
"There's a hole in her head!"
"Oh relax, It's just a piercing, caro."
"Mom, I know what a piercing looks like, and that is–"
"An ear piercing. Marinetta? Where is your earring?"
"I took it out because it was itching…"
"You have to leave it in, Marinetta. Thank you, Sabine."
After getting the piercing clean, putting the provided earring back in ("See, caro? For jewelry." ), assuring her dad that she was still his innocent baby girl and reassuring her mom that the decision was all hers–not motivated by peer pressure– her parents seemed to warm up to the idea. Besides, she mentioned, the piercing wasn't permanent; if she changed her mind, she couldalways let it close.
Carefully pushing the placeholder jewel in place, Marinette breathes a sigh of relief, tosses her cleaning gauze, and skips out of the bathroom to seize the day!
It'll be her first time around her friends with the new piercing, and she's excited to see what their reactions will be. She can already guess at some of them. Alix will probably welcome her to the club with gusto, Alya will want to take her shopping for a new ring before she can even use it, Myléne will probably ask if it hurt, and Kim will probably ask if she bled a lot.
Marinette can proudly say she handled the whole thing rather well, though the blood did freak her out a little, at first.
Slinging her schoolbag over her shoulder, she takes the stairs down two steps at a time, kisses her parents, and heads the rest of the way down with as much daring. Normally, she'd never risk it knowing how clumsy she is, but she feels different today.
The walk to school is largely uneventful. The sky is a pleasant blue, mostly unobscured by clouds, the breeze blows just right and the city feels like it's in good spirits. On such a fair day, how could it not? That's why the apprehensive stares stand out to Marinette.
Marinette was taught not to stare, not to talk to strangers, and to preserve herself in general, but she couldn't fight the instinct to stare down those people who looked at her like they'd seen a ghost. After jaunting an eyebrow at each one of them, they quickly look away, thankfully, but it's still very weird.
Maybe it's the extra piercing? They were all elderly, and most of them aren't very accepting of the stylistic choice. Traditionally, piercings are unprofessional and delinquent.
(Which reminds Marinette that eventually, her grandpa will see the new piercing. That's going to be a long conversation…)
The experience stays with her, but Marinette brushes it off once she's arrived in front of the school. Her best friends are talking on the steps casually, eating time before classes start, and they're just the people she's been wanting to see. Marinette starts up the steps with a bright smile lighting up her face, and it quickly attracts the attention of Alya, who sees her first. She waves her over, gesturing for Marinette to join them.
"Hey, guys!" Marinette exclaims as she joins them. Nino and Adrien turn their heads at the greeting, smiling, too, but then they freeze. "What?" Marinette asks.
"Girl," Alya says first, standing from where she'd been lounging beside her boyfriend. "Marinette?" she asks, like she's checking if she's got the right person.
"Yeah…?"
"You look different."
True, Marinette is wearing her hair down today, which she hasn't done in a while. And there is the second piercing on her left ear, an inch above the first. In it is a golden stud with an inlaid rose-red gem that contrasts well with her eyes– at least, that's what her Nonna and the piercer had said.
Marinette turns her ear towards Alya so she can see it. Her hair is tucked behind the shell of her ear, making her earrings easy to see. "Well, there is something a little different about me…"
Alya's eyes brighten nearly immediately. "You got a second ear piercing!"
Nino and Adrien push in to see for themselves, much to Alya's irritation. Their reactions are about what Marinette expects: Nino laughs, in the best way, and Adrien admires the craftsmanship of the jewel like a nerd.
"That's a big rock," the DJ remarks.
"Who cut your ruby?" the model asks.
"Uhhh…"
"Most people don't know that, bro," Nino informs helpfully. "They choose a premade piece that the piercer has on hand."
"Oh." Adrien blinks.
Nino glances over at Marinette, eyeing the stud from the side. "Then again, most piercers don't spend big bucks on their placeholders. You must have gone to a pretty swank place, Mari."
"Yep," Marinette agrees before he can ask who or where she got the piercing from. "The swankiest."
"Nino's right, it looks really good," Adrien picks up. "You got a quality piece of jewelry there, Marinette."
"Oh, thanks! It's a birthday gift from my Nonna. She said she had it ordered, actually. Maybe I can ask her the name of the jeweler."
"Your grandma really doesn't spare any expense for you, does she?" Alya remarks on the high grade of the ruby, after pushing the boys aside to get a proper look at it herself.
"I know. She's the best! I'm lucky to have her."
The intonation of the electronic warning bell fills the air of the school courtyard, cutting their conversation short, and they all retrieve their bags to head inside. Saved by the bell.
"You look great, by the way," Alya offers as they walk side by side. "It's just that I almost didn't recognize you for a second there. You look more… mature."
While Marinette's never been in a hurry to grow up, there is a part of her that preens at the compliment. Specifically coming from Alya, who had managed to become even more lovely over the years, somehow, and is often mistaken as a university student or some other, invited out to all manner of occasions by everyone around them. Her mature energy attracts everyone to her.
"Thanks," Marinette expresses with a blush.
Unlike the days in collége, the four of them don't have the same homeroom. Nino and Marinette, mysteriously committed to one another throughout their schooling by the Academic Fates, part ways with the other two. They take their seats in different areas of the classroom and get settled, making small talk with their desk mates.
When Marinette gets up for a brief moment to throw away some old cards taking up space in her bag, Alix hops onto Marinette's back out of nowhere, shocking Marinette thoroughly. She begins flailing at first which nearly causes them to crash into the teacher's desk, but by the grace of the universe, they are spared the tragedy. A noogie and some desperate bargaining later, Alix unfastens herself from Marinette and offers a much more reasonable thumbs-up in appreciation of her new piercing.
"So who did your piercing?" asks the fiend, completely unapologetic.
Marinette recalls the long week she'd spent with her grandma abroad, learning more about her heritage in Italy and having some experiences she'd only dreamt of since she was a kid– and some she hadn't dreamt of at all.
In Marinette fashion, she'd spent the entire night before agonizing over how she should answer this question when it inevitably arose. She'd crashed without an answer, but today, she's calmer and sharper than usual, moving forward undaunted by a blank mind.
"An old guy in Italy," shrugs Marinette easily, trying to make it sound as uninteresting as possible– and it's not even a complete lie.
"Awesome," Alix sharply grins. What Marinette likes most about Alix is that she's an uncomplicated gal; once she's got what she came for, she gives Marinette a fist bump and goes to her seat.
After that, Homeroom passes without any other life threatening events, much to Marinette's relief. Kim is a bit overzealous in appreciating the jewel in Physics, like some habitual thief, and nearly causes her to bleed out in the middle of class, but Marinette salvages the situation before serious damage is done.
It's smooth sailing from there until,
"Truce."
"What?"
"Truce, okay?"
Today just keeps getting stranger and stranger.
Marinette blinks a couple times, retracting from her thoughts. She'd been wondering what in the world Lila could possibly want from her now, after a year-long Cold War, when her thoughts had wandered, wondering if this sudden parley was somehow related to her second piercing.
Marinette furrows her eyebrows. Her reflection mirrors the action in the reflection of the mirror behind Lila reflecting the mirror behind her reflecting the mirror behind Lila.
"Lila, are you feeling okay?"
"Are you being sarcastic? I genuinely can't tell," replies Lila. "Kudos, by the way."
"I'm not being sarcastic," Marinette tells her. "You would never genuinely want a truce with me unless you were dying and your guilty conscience won out. You wrote it in a very aggressively worded letter when I asked you for a truce in collége."
"That was before today."
"And what's so special about today?"
"Don't think I'm going to grovel just because it turns out you're a little important. I'm just getting the housekeeping out of the way. No trouble around school, capisce?"
"No, I'm not sure I do understand," answers Marinette. "That is what capisce means, right?"
"Are you even Italian?" Lila exclaims. Her face is exasperated in a way that makes Marinette feel like Lila's not off her rocker, she's really missing something here. "I don't get how a loser like you got made."
Marinette partially recoils. "Okay, that's taking it too far."
"No, you dumb– who gave you that earring?"
Marinette, unused to having a second piercing on her left ear, instantly thinks Lila is talking about her Ladybug earrings and nearly has a heart attack. Her face hardens instinctually, guarding the secret even as she realizes Lila is referring to the far more flashy piece of jewelry she received for her birthday.
"My Nonna," divulges Marinette reluctantly. "But what does that have to do with anything? You're not making any sense, Lila."
"Nonna– so you're, what, a quarter? Since it's on your dad's side, I guess that counts."
To that, Marinette doesn't say a thing. She's tired of going back and forth, asking questions Lila refuses to answer. Her silence is punctuated by Lila's expectant look, probably waiting for Marinette to be offended and retaliate with something mean and unclever. She does not.
Lila narrows her eyes at Marinette, looking both suspicious and confused. Then she sighs, her brows set low over her eyes in a subdued glower. "You're going to make me say it?"
"Say what?"
"I can't tell if you want me to put it in bolder terms or if you're really as as dim as you look."
"This is why I didn't believe you want a truce, by the way."
Lila heaves another sigh. "Maybe if I put it this way: your family's bigger than you think."
"Ew, we're cousins?!"
"No, you– your grandma is a gangster!"
"I know that!"
"I knew it! You annoying bitch."
"I wasn't trying to deceive you. Maybe you should try talking forthright with people for a change."
"I'll ruminate on that." Lila says in a flat tone that promises she will never, ever care to do that. "Anyway, we're done here. I could go another year without seeing your face, and it'd still be too soon."
"Likewise," Marinette grumbles under her breath as Lila leaves the bathroom. "Truce my ass."
The truth of her piercing is a curious adventure.
It was near the end of their trip, a couple of days before they were due back in Paris, when they decided to stop by a reputable jeweler in Naples so Marinette could get her ear pierced. The piercing parlor was behind the shop. They entered through sliding doors that blended in with the wall, down a cool corridor with old brick walls and almost no light. Marinette would be lying if she said that she wasn't nervous, but her Nonna had promised the shop was owned by an old colleague of hers they could trust.
With the way the Italians interacted once they finally arrived inside the obscure parlor, Marinette could see it was true.
"Constantino!"
Her Nonna greeted the elderly gentleman in the parlor with loud friendliness. The gentleman, in kind, was warm and generous, and he greeted her Nonna with a respect that kind of surprised Marinette. He treated the teen similarly, with an instant affection for her that was only a little strange. Marinette felt like in another life, this man could have been her grand-godfather. He didn't speak much French at all, so her Nonna had to do most of the talking, but that was fine by Marinette; she was mentally preparing herself for getting pierced by a needle, and wanted to focus on not focusing on it.
The parlor was rather lavish, despite its neglected pathway. Red leather seats, elegant metal decals and a smooth finish on everything. Marinette couldn't honestly list everything, but she knew it was expensive from the look of it. A refreshing daylight bulb kept everything exceptionally well lit. A small antique radio softly serenaded the room with sleepy jazz from its place in the corner.
The gentleman and her Nonna conversed casually with a nostalgic air as Marinette wandered to a nearby chair. She watched them finish the niceties and begin discussing the jewel that would take up residence in the hole soon to be in her ear. Everything was peaceful and still in a way Marinette figured visitors to Paris must find the Louvre, or the wax museum. She was in a calm place, leaned back in the parlor chair as she wiped her lobe clean with a gentle antibacterial solution.
Her Nonna took up a spot in a loveseat not far from her and picked up a magazine. She glanced over the edge of the pages to catch Marinette's inquisitive stare, shining with an adoration Marinette honestly couldn't fathom. Constantino wheeled a table beside Marinette with a small collection of instruments laid upon it. At her nervous look, he chuckled.
"Don't be worried. Close your eyes."
With another glance at her grandma, who nodded in affirmation, Marinette slowly let her eyes close and awaited the pinch.
Normally, Marinette was so out of sorts with herself that she got blindsided by the sudden changes in her environment, but the stillness of the afternoon in the parlor den had heightened her awareness. She noticed a subtle shift in the air. As the seconds ticked and no puncture came, Marinette peeked an eye open.
Her Nonna had moved. So had Constantino. While her Nonna bent over to fiddle with the knobs on the radio, Constantino was reaching for her shoulder, piercing needle held threateningly in his hand.
As soon as Marinette realized her Nonna's life was very much in danger, she yelled. The assailant's aim was thrown off just enough for her Nonna to roll out of the way with a cut deep enough to scar, not kill.
Constantino wielded the piercing needle with a frightening amount of skill, jabbing, slicing, and stabbing at Marinette's grandmother. Marinette's heroic instincts kicked in and she rushed to thwart Constantino's attempts on her Nonna's life. She jumped on his back and seized his needle-wielding arm.
"Marinetta!"
Her world flipped violently and the air rapidly left her lungs. Marinette gasped up at the ceiling, at the needle racing towards her face.
Marinette jerked her head away, but the needle still managed to land in her ear. She cried out.
Her Nonna erupted, yelling curses, and launched herself at Constantino. Marinette yelped in pain again as the needle was jostled and roughly dislodged from her ear. She cradled the injury, entering shock. She'd never been violently wounded before.
Marinette was so shocked that she couldn't move or feel anything for a full ten minutes after the fact. It wasn't until her Nonna re-entered her field of vision, hands firmly gripping her shoulders as she explained the situation, that Marinette realized everything that'd just transpired was real , and that she had gotten stabbed.
Her Nonna was only grazed– or so she claimed– saved by a life of bombastic habits. Marinette didn't want to think about what had become of Constantino, though somewhere in her she knew the jeweler was probably dead.
After grabbing the ruby earring, they fled the scene as soon as Marinette's legs could hold up under her.
Only when they had found a place to lay low did Marinette's Nonna apologize for her getting hurt (not for the experience overall, Marinette noticed; she catalogued it with everything else unusual about her grandmother).
Needless to say, they promptly left Italy after that.
Following her strange meeting with Lila in the girl's bathroom, Marinette is able to fall back into her normal routine; she goes to school, talks with her friends, and kicks back on the Couffaine's boat when it's sunny after classes and she doesn't feel like going home. The biggest event all week is Alya making some time for her on the weekend to shop for more earrings.
The mundanity is refreshing. Marinette almost forgoes confessing the entire piercing ordeal to Alya in favor of maintaining it, but she's learned by now not to wait to tell her anything. Alya's so busy nowadays Marinette's next window to talk to her privately could be two weeks from now, and Alya always finds out one way or another; if it's another, there's always drama.
Alya is genuinely speechless at the news.
"I think this goes without saying, but please don't tell anyone. Especially my Nonna or Lila." Marinette begs.
"I wish I knew your Nonna to tell her anything," Alya jokes, half serious, "but Lila? That's strangely specific."
"We talked the other day and I think she knows more about what happened to me than I do. I can't get you involved."
"I get that you don't like Lila and all, but accusing her of putting out a hit on you and your grandma–"
"No, I don't think she put out a hit on us. In fact, she asked me for a truce."
"Maybe once she found out you survived the hit, she wanted to be in your good graces." Alya offers.
"Do you believe she put out a hit or not?"
"Well, you know I can't completely rule it out. I could be overlooking a potential baddie here."
"Ha ha, very funny," Marinette deadpans. "I'm serious, you know. Why do you think Lila is so precious and innocent, anyway? Have you ever actually witnessed any of the things she claims to be doing?"
"I wasn't joking. It's like you say, I haven't witnessed firsthand any of the deeds she claims to have done, just like I haven't witnessed firsthand any of the wrongs you claim she's done to you. I'm open to the possibilities."
"Then why be so nice? What if you're enabling a real bitch?"
"Because of the Golden Rule. Besides," Alya smirks. "If there really is gangster beef between you two, I'd rather be on her good side."
Alya is always helpful for a broader, more objective perspective, but Marinette knows what she knows.
The girls drop the sensitive conversation as they journey deeper into the mall. Marinette lets Alya lead her around, pointing out interesting kiosks, piercing and jewelry focused stores, and even a few places unrelated to their mission but fun to explore just the same. They compare a few different pieces that would fit the hole in her ear, and discuss whether or not Alya should get a matching one in her right ear (under different circumstances, of course).
It's a great time, but throughout the whole adventure, Marinette can't forget what Lila said about the earring her Nonna gifted her. She seems to know something about it… and as much as it pains Marinette, Lila is probably the only person she can talk to about it besides her Nonna, whom she's not trying to give any ideas yet.
"So when you say truce," Marinette begins, arms folded over her chest (she's a little proud of the icy air she manages to produce), "you mean it, right?"
Lila diminished her pride by somehow managing a sweet smile and a nasty snark at the same time– in lieu of answering with words, by the way.
"Then tell me what you know about my earring, and my family." Marinette narrows her eyes. "And no lies."
"I gain more from telling you the truth than from lying to you in this case, so no need to worry." Lila leans back against one of the pearly sinks lining the wall. "My guess is your Nonna's from somewhere around Naples, right?"
Marinette nods, holding her breath.
"Right. The bling you've got in your ear? It's a classic inlaid cut used by wealthy Italian families. The body is fourteen karat gold, the decal is catholic, imprinted with an old Italian proverb, and the ruby was a popular choice around a hundred years ago, about the time our grandparents were born. Such valuable artifacts are passed down the generations, ready for the next son to inherit."
Marinette could be wrong, but she was pretty sure there was some bitterness there.
"Did your Nonna have any brothers?" Lila asks.
"I don't know." Marinette answers. "She never mentioned anything about her life in Italy until my birthday."
"In any case, she had a father. And now she's gotten her hands on a family heirloom and given it to you."
"So you could tell the jewel was valuable and Italian. Fine. What does it have to do with my family and you making a truce with me?"
Lila grins voraciously. "I thought what it has to do with your family would be obvious. Or are you in denial?" Marinette gives her a weird look, and Lila clarifies. "I know that 'piercing' wasn't caused by a needle. Any idiot paying attention could tell."
Showing vulnerability to a person like Lila is asking to be eaten alive, but Marinette is willing to suffer to get to the bottom of this. She pleads, just a little, for the roundabout to end. "I just want to know what it all means."
As predicted, Lila responds to her desperation like the witch she is. "Basically, you're wearing the crown to a lost empire, sweetheart." The witch leans forward into Marinette's personal space, airing her insatiable hunger loud and clear while speaking in her doubly pierced ear. "And I'm going to help you bring it back."