Heroine for a day

Oh, she was so cute! And so kind of her to be conscious of what honorifics to use. A smile seemed to grow on her face and she giggled slightly. "You can call me Ann, I don't mind. But if you do feel a little weird about it, 'Ann-san' works too. It's a pretty general honorific for acquaintances."

When they were seated outside, she was surprised by the treats and also said her thanks to the bakery owners, rather happily.

"--That's actually something I'd like to work with you on. I'm not exactly sure yet what I'd want. Y'see, I was so captivated by this design specifically," she took out her phone, pulled up their messages, and clicked on Marinette's profile to go to her page. It took just a moment to find the matching skirt and hoodie.

It seemed that Marinette was in the business of embarrassing herself today. More so than usual. She wasn't good with strangers which was one reason she was so glad that most of her commissions were online and were only charms and keychains. It was different kinds of clothes for friends of course, but they were friends. Even so, this social anxiety was something she'd have to get past if she was ever going to be a fashion designer like her idol.

One never sees Gabriel Agreste stuttering and stumbling over his words or clamming up after all. He was rarely in the public eye of course, but when he was, he was calm and composed. Maybe she needed to remember Ladybug too and her take charge attitude. Thinking about the heroine in red and black spots, Marinette subtly took in a deep breath and slowly released it, grounding herself.

Afterward it was easy to keep her mind on track and her eyes lit up as she was shown one of her own designs. She remembered this one, this is one she designed as she was listening to her favorite rock star Jagged Stone. She was still a bit inspired after he asked her to design his new album cover and this was what she came up with.

Now with this original design and Ann's request for a few subtle changes, Marinette nodded and eagerly flipped to a clean page to start sketching. She paused here and there as she worked to take in the other girl's features and made notes as she drew as to the colors she could see working best. She was in full designer mode and wore a proud smile as she turned the sketch book around for her to see.

"Something like this?" she eagerly asked. "This is just a rough guesstimate of what you said. I'll change anything you want to have changed if there's anything you don't like or want added."

Either way, she couldn't wait to get started on this design. Ann seemed like a sweet girl and very patient even though she knew her own rambling could be annoying. She even annoyed herself at times and knew she hadn't exactly come off as professional before, but Ann still wanted her to design something for her.

Plus she was a very beautiful woman and maybe she could give her a discount if Ann agreed to model a few pieces for her. With her beauty and the pieces shown on a real person rather than a mannequin, maybe her store would get even more traffic.

"This design should take me no longer than a week to do with school and homework and all. Would that time frame be okay? I can do some work overnight and get it done in three days if you need it sooner. I'll need your measurements of course though."

However, her rambling in her eagerness was slightly hard to follow. It's okay, she dealt with Futaba! That girl could go for hours about her favorite shows and fandoms!

Oop--she disappeared upstairs before she could say anything, so she took to looking at the display again and had a croissant in hand when she re-emerged once more.

It had been her best friend Alya who suggested that she make an Instagram account to share her work. "To reach a larger clientele," she'd said. Marinette had been skeptical, not believing her designs were all that special. Who did Alya think she was? Gabriel Agreste? But now, she was glad that she heeded the advice. Doing so had ultimately landed with her getting her first commission that wasn't from a friend or classmate.

The compliments she was given had her cheeks heating and lighting up pink in response. She heard it all the time from her class and friends. She always thought that they were just saying that to give her more confidence though. But here was someone she had just met saying the same thing which gave her a boost of confidence and energy.

"Its nice to meet you Ann.."

Oh shoot! Don't people from Japan refer to each other by last name only until they knew them better? Crap..!

"I-I mean um.. Takamaki...san..?"

Was that the right honorific..?!

She really needed to learn more about her own Asian background she suddenly realized. Maybe ask Kagami certain things too.. But then she remembered she hadn't responded at all to the compliments she was given and almost had a panic attack! Jeez! She was always scatter brained, but even more so today!

"Oh.. Thank you. I usually do designs for my class and friends and some other stuff on the side when inspiration strikes," she explained as she walked around the counter.

She gestured for the girl who introduced herself as Ann to follow her outside. Outside where there were chairs and tables set up. The bakery would have another rush soon and she'd prefer to be able to hear Ann over the din of noise. Tom and Sabine were quick to bring out complementary hot cocoas for them as well after they sat down, receiving a soft thanks from their daughter.

𝒜 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝒹𝒶𝓎

Conduct | Muse | Verses | Mun

Bakery??

It was just a coincidence, right? A glance was spared over in Marinette's direction and well, curiosity got the better of her. Feigning that she was looking at more pastries(which looked delicious), she leaned over slightly, looking at her screen--

"Oh!! You're the one I wanted to commission!"

For a girl that was no longer the holder of the mouse miraculous, she still squeaked like one when startled. Her back had turned to the bakery at large, about to head to her room. But then the voice of the young woman behind her stopped her. There was only a brief moment of start. One where she squeaked and tensed as if waiting for a blow.

But then her mind pieced together what she heard and she turned around, just as excited. No way! What were the chances that the same girl who wanted to commission her was now standing in her parents bakery too? Ladybug was supposed to be the lucky one! It seemed some luck seemed to have rubbed off on her!

"Oh wow! Hi!" she answered just as excitedly. "W-Wait here, I'll go get my sketch pad and maybe we can sit outside to discuss? Oh by the way, I recommend the croissants and macrons~"

She didn't give her time to answer and left her in the bakery to run to retrieve her trusty sketch pad. Probably a good idea to grab her notepad too now that she thought about it. That way she could write down contact information and measurements and the like.

Had she been lamenting not being a heroine anymore? This commission would keep her busy, she was sure. And she could tell Chat Noir about it later too! Win, win!

Marinette barely contained her excited squeal as she ran down the stairs, only to fall on the last few. Thankfully her fall was softened by a bag of flour. A bag of flour that somehow didn't burst when she fell on it. She didn't want to meet a potential client covered and looking like a ghost. So when she appeared again, her smile was bright as she held up her sketch and note pads.

She'd sent the message on instagram this morning...As far as she knew, the designer probably hadn't seen it yet, or they were just too busy. Or, well, just straight up ignored it.

...That was fine, too. She was in Paris, she was going to enjoy herself before she had to start taking her studying seriously!

Humming happily, she looked around at the buildings--each structure fairly different to those in Japan! And--

Oooh, was that a bakery??

There was a thump, followed by a groan of pain as Marinette attempted to stand without first clearing the counter space. How many times daily doe she do that again? Too many to count in her opinion. So often in fact that others could be forgiven for wondering if she had lived there very long or not.

Either way, she had responsibilities and gave a somewhat pained smile as she stood to welcome the newest customer.

"H-Hello welcome. What can I get for-?" she greeted only to be stopped by her mom.

"Marinette honey, thank you, but we can take it from here."

Oh! Her parents were home! Now, she could finally relax and take a look at that message she'd heard ping on her phone earlier. She hadn't been able to get to it until now thanks to the rush in the bakery earlier. Thanks to her self inflicted injury she hadn't really noted the person who entered before either and absently rubbed her head as she turned and opened up her messages.

Oh! Oh!!! A request!!

a really random marichat confession because i just miss drawing them

the marichat bubble scene we deserved 😤

quick doodles i made a few days back

You know, one of the better aspects of my muse is that the friendship between Marinette and Kagami may come much sooner. There could of course be some angst too, but the friendship could be there.

This Marinette never fell for Adrien, she fell for Chat Noir instead. Which would mean that when Adrien and Kagami had a relationship, she'd never be jealous or try to sabotage them. She'd be genuinely happy for them and then want to have girl time with Kagami when they split up. Which would then cause a conflict between Marinette and Adrien, not realizing he was the boy behind Chat Noir.

Elation 🌸🐈‍⬛