Turning A Monster Into A Man

Two

"That WAS NOT part of the plan!" Marinette scolded as she sat on the end of the couch that Gabriel used a foot board for his bed picking debris out of her hair. All channels were in a frenzy as the common title floating around was "Ladybug Kidnapped?!"

"Can you blame me for my decision? That dreadful cat did not respect YOUR boundaries."

"He kissed me. It's not like he hasn't done that before." She shrugged. "It wasn't worth messing up our hard work."

The two had planned this for months as Monarch was supposed to escape into the radio room of the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug was to follow and take back all the Miraculouses including the Peacock and Butterfly.  Making sure the reporters were distracted by flashing lights. Gabriel Agreste could sneak away and appear in the nearby restaurant under some debris. As that's where he started from as he was having a scheduled consultation with his assistant. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Monarch would be defeated and Gabriel wouldn't have to face the consequences of his actions. He could start a new life with his new love but he screwed it all up on behalf a stupid thoughtless kiss.

"I think it was. He has no regard for your feelings, and maybe this is jealousy or pride talking. You do not owe him anything." He moved her wispy bangs gently with a swipe of his hand before kissing her forehead gently. "He chose to be a hero like you and heroes don't get victory prizes."

"And villains do?" She gulped trying to figure out if she could muster up some energy to test out her devil's tango.

"Villains take what they want, and this so-called villain wants you. However, I do not think either of us could handle any more action for today." He slumped himself next to her and guided her head to his shoulder. "We can decide how to solve this tomorrow as for now, rest." He put his glasses on his lap before resting his head on the top of her's.

"I should clean up first." She mumbled wanting to argue with her own body. She looked up at him, his eyes already closed. Wearing all those Miraculouses was taking a toll. He also wasn't as spry as she was as he was twenty-six years her senior. She couldn't help but smile at him as he was quite handsome. He could definitely be in the running for best looking Hollywood silver fox along with Geogre Clooney, Pierce Brosnan, and giving Timothy Olyphant a run for his money when he smiled. Maybe her innocent crush on Derek on Grey's Anatomy had a bit of influence on her current choices on men.

Her conscience occasionally pulled at her indicating that this was a bad idea. The worst idea she's ever had but they had both put caution to the wind. When he first said "I want you." It made her spine shiver with anticipation, as at the time she did not know what overcame him to say such direct words.

Marinette recalled that it was a particularly busy day. She volunteered to work for a particularly difficult customer, Chloe Bourgeois, the daughter of one of Mr. Agreste's regular clients. This customer thought she knew better than Marinette who was nice enough to take this project under her wing due to the in-house seamstresses being overwhelmed as it was.

She had been promoted quite quickly as she went from Gabriel's prodigy to have the skyloft of the warehouse. A gorgeous glass room with stain glass joining the clear ceiling and walls. It  was once a greenhouse then was redesigned into the speakeasy, Monaé. The piano engraved with the name still laid in the middle on a slightly elevated platform. Monaé was a legendary place in which Mr. Agreste came up with his most famous collections and also meant his dearly departed wife.

And now this place with so much history was HER studio. Perhaps it was her bolstered confidence that made her think that she could take all this under her belt. That she could be a superhero in and out of costume. As it felt like her personal life was finally going well, her alter ego wasn't getting in the way.

Chloe or Miss Bourgeois as Mr. Agreste insisted that honorifics be used during work hours. A decision that made sense in retrospect but she had attended Francis Dupont with her and had been used to calling her Chloe. Marinette had to often correct herself around Felix, Mr. Agreste's son. Who was not only Gabriel's son but also her ex-classmate and her ex-boyfriend. At least Mr. Agreste allowed his youngest son to be called by his first name,Adrien. It made conference calls less jumbled.

"This is utterly ridiculous!"

"I assure you this is an exact replica of the design you approved." Marinette looked at the design that was personally approved by Gabriel Agreste. It was a privilege to be let to design something for the Gabriel Brand as he trusted her skill set enough to let her work unsupervised.

Marinette compared the image on the screen to the gown that laid on the mannequin. "I would very much like it if you explained where I went wrong."

The dress was a light yellow satin gown, a long sleeve green and blue plaid crop top with a peekaboo front and yellow white stripes on the sleeves. It mixed athleticism with elegance, a gown perfect for Chloé's movie preview. She starred as Yellow, one of the main characters in Nino Lahiffe's Sci Fi Thriller, Among Us. Based on the famous video game, it was already gaining a lot of support due to his excellent choices in casting and his obvious nod to the movie, Clue.

"Where do I begin? It's a disaster."

Marinette took a deep breath. Chloe was only supposed to come in for a fitting. There wasn't any time to create a whole new garment. The premier was in three days. "Ms. Bourgeois, due to the time restraints, the only alternatives I can offer are from the product lines. And I know you are an individual that wants something as unique as yourself and I can't promise that with something from the product line."

"Restarting can be that hard!"

Marinette bit her lip as she would have to make new designs and have them be reappeared by both Ms Bourgeois and Mr. Agreste then she would have to buy new fabric, draft new patterns, cut fabric, sew fabric. That didn't account for any mistakes. What if she cut wrong? Or worse her machines started acting up? She hated when her overlock machines decided to break a thread or screw up a stitch. Always finding herself cursing the brand of the machine when the problem was usually something very subtle. Like the needles needing to be replaced.

"I can not guarantee a dress in time. As I have other duties to attend to. If you wish, you can take a look at the dress I created for myself, it will need a few adjustments like the one before you but it's my only other option. Otherwise I suggest finding a different more flexible seamstress."

Marinette had her dress behind a according separator on a mannequin. The dress was a plunging V neck with long sleeves, and the skirt hemmed to the proper length. The dress was covered with loose hanging white holographic circles with hints of a pastel rainbow. A fabric that Marinette had no experience with so she had used her excuse for a new dress as a chance to play with the fabric. Underneath was a simple skin toned tank dress.The dress screamed Sci-Fi Princess and Marinette could see in Ms. Bourgeois that this was the dress.

"I will have to fix the bust as well as the hem but I believe that it can be ready in time." As Ms Bourgeois had enhanced her assets to keep up with the beauty standards and she was quite tall standing at 5'9" without heels.

Marinette began to take the dress off the mannequin. Not the easiest task with the zipper being unzipped then the arms of the dressform being unhooked then the entire dress being wedged up over the top being careful not to snagged on the exposed arm indents or the bust. Not that Marinette's personal mannequin had much of one.

Chloe quickly tried it on, as she was not as careful with the vinyl circles that Marinette tried so carefully not to break or bend. Chloe posed infront of a mirror. "I want Uncle Gabriel's opinion on this."

Uncle Gabriel was a term of endearment as she grew up with his sons and considered herself part of the Agreste family. Marinette couldn’t blame her not that the Agrestes had the greatest family dynamic; they just were far better than the Bourgeoises. Marinette remembered the school days in which neither Audrey or André showed up to school to handle Chloe's misbehavior. They always sent a nanny or a butler.

"I will gladly call him up." Marinettte grabbed her cell phone and dialed Gabriel's number. He was known for avoiding any calls dealing with the warehouse. He assumed that his hand selected team was capable of handling any and all problems. "Mr. Agreste, sorry to disturb you but Ms. Bourgeois would like a second opinion on her premiere dress."

She was surprised that he even picked up as beside his antisocial behavior, he also had a conference call. "I will be up right away, Ms. Dupain-Cheng."