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In Marinette’s defence, she really hadn’t anticipated how many kids actually did the trick-or-treat thing here, and it was her first American Halloween. She hadn’t wanted to disappoint children, she didn’t do it on purpose, she had brought candy.
Just, not enough to last her the night. Or, really, an hour.
She was new to Star City, most of her things were still in boxes, and didn’t have friends here that could have told her how much exactly she would need. Worst, she would have run out of candy in half an hour if one of her designers hadn’t talked about it, and how much she brought each years, this morning.
But, really, it wasn’t her fault, American were crazy about Halloween!
Back when she still lived in Paris, she would get four, maybe five groups of children knocking at her door. And those were the most busy years! She hadn’t anticipated for children to be at her door asking for candy every five minutes.
And it broke her heart every time she had to tell she didn’t have any left. She gave homemade cookies, made in a rush this afternoon, to the first few ones, but even those had run out.
Now, the children were starting to get more and more spaced out, and Marinette had finally started to let herself relax slightly. Still, spread out didn’t mean inexistant, and she winced when she heard a soft but excited knock at her door. Soft and excited meant that the child was young, and they were the worst to disappoint.
“Hey, I’m sorry but I don’t have any candy left,” she started, only to blink when she saw the little girl on her front step. “Oh mon dieu, you are so cute!”
“Thank you miss!” The little, dressed head to toes in a Ladybug costume, told her with a smile. “I’m dressed as—”
“Ladybug! I know,” she told her with a smile, crouching to be on eye level with her.
“You know her?! The girl in school said that nobody knew her!” The girl told her with widened eyes, looking at her with something like awe in her gaze. Marinette only laughed.
“Well, you see, I’m new in the city, but I grew up in Paris. I actually talked to her a couple of times, you know?”
“You did? How is she really? I think she is awesome!”
“She is cool, I guess. But I think you’re cooler,” Marinette said with a smile.
“No way, she is a superhero! Even dad thinks she is awesome!” The girl exclaimed, making the man with her, her dad, laugh.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Marinette started, standing up. “I didn’t mean to ignore you! I’m really sorry, that was so rude of me!”
“It’s fine, Lian is pretty cute in her costume,” he told her with a dazzling smile, ruffling his daughter’s hair, despite them being in pigtails. “I’m Roy, by the way.”
“Marinette,” she smiled, finally taking him in. And, oh boy, was he a cute one too. “Are you Lian’s Chat Noir?”
Roy was dressed in a black t-shirt, a black leather jacket, and black jeans. The final touch was the cute little cat ears headband on top of his head. He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, a cute little blush dusting his cheeks.
“Um, yeah, we couldn’t have a Ladybug without her Chat Noir, right?”
“Yeah,” she said softly, getting just a little bit lost in his eyes. Before suddenly remembering that she didn’t have any candy left. “Oh god, I’m so sorry, but I don’t have any candy left! But…” She added when she got an idea. “If you can wait just a minute, I have something I can give you!”
She turned around before either could say anything, walking toward her living room where she knew the box she was looking for was. It took her a couple of minutes to find it, but she finally got back to the door holding two jewelry boxes, a red one and a black one.
“Here, for the best Ladybug I saw tonight,” she told Lian, giving her the boxes. The girl took them and opened the red one first.
“It’s Ladybug’s earrings!” Lian exclaimed, eyes wide, showing them to her father.
“And Chat Noir’s ring. Not the real ones, of course, but I used to sell them back in Paris and I have some left so… It’s not candy, but I hope it’s okay.”
“Thank you! It’s awesome!” The girl squealed before hugging Marinette’s legs. Her father looked down at her with a fond smile.
“Thanks, you didn’t have to,” he told her slowly, looking at her with a smile.
“It’s, um, it’s okay, I wanted to. She makes a fantastic Ladybug,” she said, hoping that her blush wasn’t overly noticeable. Roy laughed softly, and Marinette’s heart decided that it was the perfect moment to dysfunction.
“Well, Lian, it’s time to go. Tell bye to Marinette,” Roy said, after a second and an eternity spent staring at each other.
“Bye Marinette! Can we come back to see you soon?” She asked with an innocent smile, and Marinette would have brought it if it wasn’t the exact same overly innocent smile Adrien often gives her after he messes up.
“Yeah,” she choked out, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Of course you can! Bye Lian! Bye Roy!”
And then, because she hadn’t messed up enough in her conversation with a pretty boy, she slammed the door in their face.
Later, when she got ready to sleep, her interaction with Roy and Lian playing again in her mind, Marinette couldn’t bring herself to regret not buying enough candy.