After the Ball (Based on the Movie)

Part 2

Marinette entered through the doors of Miraculous, the boutique, when she heard a crash behind her.

"Dang it," grumbled a voice next to her that was all too familiar. Marinette smiled as she embraced the mysterious figure in a tight warm hug! She heard a small yelp from their mouth, but in the end, the person slowly wrapped their arms around the girl's waist, returning the favor.

The designer grinned as they pulled away. "Thought you could scare me again, didn't you Plagg?"

She didn't even bother saying "uncle" before his name. It has always been like that, and it hasn't changed since. When Marinette was three, her Mama has introduced the couple as "Uncle Plagg" and "Auntie Tikki", but they dismissed the titles right away, saying that it made them feel old and aged up. As she grew older, Marinette often made the mistake of saying 'aunt' or 'uncle' from time to time, but she grew out of it by her fourth birthday. It was one of the unique things about her godparents.

"You're awfully thin," Plagg noted out of the blue. "You should have some camembert; it does wonders for you." Marinette laughed as Plagg led her into the back, where the store got divided into the living space.

She sat down as Plagg got out a piece of the smelly cheese out of the mini fridge.

"Wait here. Tikki should be down in a moment," Plagg instructed as he walked away, no doubt to grab a glass of wine to accompany the cheese. Those two things were Plagg's favorite combo after all.

"Marinette!" a high pitched voice exclaimed, as the designer whipped her head around to see her godmother walking towards her and giving her a comforting hug. "It's been a while," the red-head mumbled into Marinette's jet-black hair.

They sat comfortably next to each other for a while after the hug has ended. The ravenette glanced at the clock only to find that it was past 10 PM.

"Shouldn't you be asleep by now?" Marinette teased as Tikki yawned. Catching the young lady look her way, the older woman just shrugged it off.

"I'm not tired," she stated, but in reality, she was trying her best to fight another yawn coming up. Besides, tomorrow she had to get up at 6:30 to run some errands for the boutique; not that she'll tell Marinette of course.

The designer rolled her eyes, "Yep. Not sleepy at all".

Not a second layer, Plagg arrived with a bottle of vino tucked underneath his arm, with a glass in his left hand, and cheese in his right.

"What?" he demanded when he saw the girls staring at him, "Nobody has ever seen a man with earth's most heavenly cheese and cheap wine?"

Tikki smirked. "Only you would drink vino with camembert, Plagg".

"Whatever," the man grumbled. "Besides, wasn't tonight the day that our little Marinette graduated from design school?"

Tikki's face immediately lit up as she smiled a Cheshire grin at her goddaughter.

"That's right! I should remember of course, since that was the reason that I invited you here anyway," she mused.

Marinette nodded. Of course, she was excited that she was finally done with school but after the meeting with Nadja tonight, she wasn't sure if tonight should be one of her best or worst nights of her life.

"So...how was it?" Tikki finally questioned.

The ravenette shrugged. "It was okay, I guess."

The two adults said nothing, so with a sigh, the designer continued. "There was only this model that bugged me, but it was no big deal. And everyone told me they loved my designs, not to mention Nadja Chamack told me that she thought that my designs were impressive, but-"