Chapter pairings: Tikki&Marinette, one-sided Marinette/Nathanael, implied Marinette/Adrien, neglected!Adrien&Gabriel

Chapter Summary: Marinette meets an old and a familiar face. Adrien just wants someone to truly notice him.

A/N: I've been working on this since before I finished I'm Here to Dance, and I figured now was as good a time as any to post the first chapter. Just as a sort of feel to see what you guys like or don't like. I'm a little obsessed with the French Revolution as well as the 18th century as a whole so this is a product of that obsession.

This is NOT going to be a 100% accurate impression of events, but merely inspired by real events. SO if anything doesn't make sense, go ahead and ask.

Marinette counted herself among the lucky few to have a home and work in these times. Her parents were not considerably wealthy, but they had enough from their modest bakery to purchase for Marinette an apprenticeship with Tikki, one of the finest seamstresses in Paris. And Marinette tried to think she did the best with what she had.

"See now, 'tis always better to measure twice than to cut wrong, yes?" Tikki asked, pinning together a blue dress.

"Yes, Tikki," Marinette parroted back to her. She was peering over Tikki's shoulder, watching every move of her mistress' ministrations. There was no doubt that this dress was meant for someone in Versailles.

"There now, that's much better." Tikki stood to let Marinette once more go back to pinning the pieces of dress together. The garment hung over a mannequin, and was elevated by a platform so that they could work more easily. Marinette kneeled down and took the pincushion from Tikki's outstretched hand. As younger woman went back to pinning, the older went back behind her desk to nibble on the cookies she had received from her admirer. Marinette had never actually met this man, but she was fairly certain he lived somewhere in Versailles due to the extravagance of the gifts.

"So, Marinette," said Tikki through a mouth full of cookie. "I saw that young Nathanael came calling yesterday."

Marinette blushed, but her face was turned away so that Tikki couldn't see. The young woman ignored her and went on pinning.

"Whatever did he want?"

Marinette swallowed. "He- he wanted to show me some of his paintings sometime."

"Oh, how intimate. It must be such a joy to have the attentions of such a young talent."

Marinette did not turn her face to look at Tikki. "You aren't one to talk with your suitor's packages coming to the house at all hours of the day."

"Plagg is no suitor, we are in a very intimate, very committed relationship. Suitor would imply I may or may not return his affections."

"And yet, you never see each other. How can you love someone you don't see?"

"You are young, you don't understand. When you are young 'tis all caviar and smoke, until you get older and have to move on to more cheaper cuts. Such as writing letters and sending pastries."

Marinette did not speak after that, but a smile curled her lips. Once Tikki got to talking about Plagg, there was no stopping her, and it was the perfect distraction to get Tikki's attention off of Nathanael.

"You really ought to marry this artist," Tikki said offhandedly.

Damn. It would've worked too, if she had just asked one more question about Plagg. But one always had to play their cards right because Tikki usually got very defensive about her supposed lover.

"Why might that be?" Marinette asked, still not turning around as she surveyed her handiwork.

"Well, let us be honest, my dear, men are not lining up to marry you."

"Nor do I want them to. I would much rather just do my job."

"You must get married." Marinette wasn't entirely sure if Tikki was being serious.

"You aren't married."

"And look where it got me."

"A good career and a faithful admirer?"

Marinette heard Tikki sigh. "I doubt I'm the only one for him, Mari. A great man such as him cannot only think of me. It just can't be possible."

"You put yourself down too much." Marinette smoothed down the dress and finally turned back to Tikki. "There can you-"

A servant walked in just then and announced the arrival of Nathanael come to call once again.

"He's keen on you, missy," Tikki said, not looking up from her letter. "Better not let him go."

Marinette shrugged. "Will you check my work before I go?"

"Of course, of course." Tikki still did not look as Marinette went to the door to see Nathanael.

He was just as over dressed as he had been the day before, wearing a white suit with purple shirt and black boots, and a tie of red, blue, and yellow. He had a white hat on and a purple feather on top. He looked very out of place on the dingy Paris street, and many people were looking at him funny as they walked past. He didn't seem to mind, but his face brightened when Marinette came out of the house.

"Bonjour, ma fleur," he said with a grand bow and a sweep of his hat. Marinette colored and tried to think of a way to get out of being a fixture for street gossip.

"Good afternoon, Nathanael, did you forget something yesterday?" she asked, eyeing his outfit up and down.

"Not at all, in fact, I wanted to give you something." He snapped his fingers and the man with him handed Nathanael a bouquet who then handed it to Marinette.

"Oh…thank you," Marinette said, smelling the bright flowers.

"Flowers for ma fleur."

"Clever, I see. Um, thank you kindly, Nathanael. Is there anything else you wanted?"

He stepped an inch closer to Marinette who tried not to blush as she watched him.

"I- I realize how this is going to sound, Marinette. But I wanted to- well-"

Nathanael was cut off by a commotion in the street. A woman screamed as a little girl ran in front of a carriage to grab a toy she'd dropped. The carriage was not stopping. Before Marinette had realized what she was doing, she had ran forwards, grabbed the girl by the arm, and yanked her from the path of the carriage. The carriage jolted to a halt, but Marinette didn't notice.

"Are you alright?!" she asked the girl, who tried to run back to her mother.

"You filthy peasants! How dare you…"

Marinette wrenched her face up to the carriage where a woman with bright blue eyes and blonde hair piled high onto of her head and wearing a fancy dress leaned out of the window of the carriage to yell.

Nathanael seemed to fade into the background as Marinette stood in front of the girl. "'Twas your carriage that nearly crushed the girl!" Marinette spat at her.

"It should not be so stupid to run in front of a moving carriage!"

"She's only a child, ma'am, and better acting than you or any of your kind!"

"How dare you-"

A hand fell on her shoulder and another face appeared in the small window of the carriage. "Lady Bourgeois, please. No harm was done," a man with fair features and face said. He must've been Marinette's age, but had clearly been groomed all of his life. He turned to Marinette and she felt her heart being seized by his green eyes. "Is the child alright?" he asked her.

"Manon! Manon!" Mrs. Chamack broke from the crowd and scooped up her child from the street. "I'd thought I'd lost you."

"She was not hit, sir," Marinette said to the man in the carriage. "I think she's fine."

The man turned his face away and pulled a few coins from his purse. "Give these to her mother, for their troubles."

Marinette reached a trembling hand out to take the coins and clutched them to her breast. He gave Marinette one more smile and turned away, calling for the driver to keep going.

Marinette felt a hand at her back and turned to see Nathanael. "You're trembling, my dear. Are you alright?" he asked.

Marinette blinked and looked down at the coins in her hand. The profile of King Gabriel looked back at her, and she looked back to Nathanael.

"What?" she said, not remembering what he had asked.

"Are you alright? You don't look well."

"I'm fine, I'm fine, um…" She turned to Mrs. Chamack who was berating Manon for running into the street, and tapped her on the shoulder. "The uh- the man-"

"The prince," Nathanael added.

"The- the prince?" Marinette repeated. "Um- well, he wanted you to have this." She held out her hand to the kneeling woman, who stood.

"No, no, I could never accept this. Take it, Marinette, please for saving my daughter, my world."

Marinette took her hand and pressed them into Mrs. Chamack's palm. "You have Manon, I can manage on my own."

Mrs. Chamack seemed as though she was going to cry as she wrapped her arms around Marinette and squeezed her tightly. "Thank you, thank you so much." She let go and grabbed Manon by the hand.

"Your parents could've used that money," Nathanael commented as Mrs. Chamack and Manon disappeared into the crowd.

Marinette shrugged. "They would not want money that they didn't deserve."

"You upset the Lady Chloe Bourgeois."

"That quim? Go on and ask me if I give two bushels of wheat."

Nathanael seemed jolted by her language, but Marinette did not mind. If he truly wanted to marry her, he should get used to her mouth. "She is not a woman to upset," he said.

"Aye, I noticed you disappeared as soon as she poked her ugly head out."

His face turned red and he spluttered. "I- I go to Versailles every now and then, I could not-"

"You have a reputation to uphold, I understand." Marinette shook her head. She had known Nathanael since they were children, and she was always surprised at how much he had changed. Though neither of their families were in the poorhouse, they were Parisian born and raised, and had been brought up in conditions much lower than Versailles.

"What is it that you wanted, Nathanael?" Marinette asked once more.

"N- never mind, are you still interested in seeing my art?" he asked, eyeing Marinette nervously.

"I may, though it will depend on whether Tikki requires my services."

Nathanael finally bowed his head and bayed his goodbyes, promising to return later in the work. Marinette was left alone on the street as she watched Nathanael with his high-falootin' suit walk down the street, his man tailing at his heels. Marinette scoffed and went back inside Tikki's shop before some lout tried to rob her.

When she saw that Tikki did not need her help. She excused herself and went up the stairs to the guest room next to Tikki's. Marinette sometimes slept there, but she wasn't interested in the bed. She went to the window, opening it without a difficulty, and climbed out onto the roof of the building. She stepped up farther until she was leaning against the chimney. Looking over the city, Marinette felt calm, but tired. The people ambling around the streets, tummies rumbling from no bread, and beyond the horizon, shining like a vision of heaven was Versailles in all it's glory.

Adrien sighed and kept looking out the window, doing his best to ignore Lady Chloe Bourgeois.

"I mean, can you believe the nerve of that- that- I'm not even sure we can call her a girl much less a woman!" she huffed indignantly.

The honorable Miss Sabrina DuBois nodded emphatically as her lady superior went on and on.

"Your highness, your highness!" Lady Bourgeois insisted. "Are you listening to-" She stopped and cleared her throat, no one demanded anything of Crowned Prince Adrien Agreste. "I mean, are we boring you, my prince?"

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, Adrien screamed in his mind. "Not at all, Lady Bourgeois, I'm perfectly contented to listen to you ramble on about nothing important," he said, still looking out the window.

The two women laughed as if this was funny, and Adrien did his best not to frown. He failed.

"What is wrong, sir?" Miss Sabrina asked.

"It must be the fumes of this awful city," Lady Chloe insisted, and reached her hand out to close the blinds on their carriage.

Adrien looked away from the now covered window, but did his best not to meet Lady Chloe's eyes. For the past six months, every time he'd done so, she'd batted her eyes coquettishly and Adrien would have to fake a cough in order to hide his laughter at her idiocy.

Besides, he had noticed a different pair of eyes that day.

Judas, the fire in that girl's eyes as she yelled at Lady Chloe. Every social situation he'd been in had taught him that no one ever spoke to a person of higher birth like that, but this girl was right, and she was unafraid. He wondered what her life must be like, toiling away as a working class citizen, trying to make ends meet. Then finally she has had enough of what society has dealt her and stands up to the first noble she meets (who happens to be the one who deserves it the most). It was quite romantic, to say the least.

They soon entered Versailles and got out at the palace. Several ladies came out to meet and gossip with Lady Chloe and Sabrina as Adrien did his best to duck into the palace without the same ladies noticing him.

"Ah, I've been expecting you, Prince Adrien," his tutor, Mme. Nathalie Sancouer. Though, Adrien was fairly certain Mme. Sancouer had never been married, she had earned the title through her years of service to the Agreste family. Though, Adrien had long ago convinced his father to stop making him listen to her version of French history, he was never able to escape her as his personal coordinator.

"Tonight you have a dinner with-"

"The court, I haven't forgotten, Nathalie, don't worry. I'm back in time to change, aren't I?"

"Not in time for badminton, you're not."

Adrien froze and groaned aloud. He'd completely forgotten about badminton with a few of the men from his entourage. He had been itching to go back to Paris for the past week, and only was able to seize the opportunity when Lady Chloe had mentioned going to call on different dressmakers. In hindsight, he should've stayed and played badminton, but he honestly didn't feel that bad about it.

"Did my father ask about me at all?" Adrien asked as they entered his apartments.

Nathalie shook her head. "Not that I heard, my prince. You know he does not like to be disturbed."

"I am his son, his heir. I think I ought to know how to run my kingdom." Adrien stood still as the manservant undid his vest and shirt.

Nathalie moved behind a screen to allow the prince some privacy, though, Adrien had long been accustomed to strangers seeing him naked what with the people who could simply enter his apartments at any time.

"I shall let him know you wish to observe him work," Nathalie said behind the screen.

Adrien rolled his eyes as he stepped out of his breeches and stockings. His day clothes were taken away to be washed (though, Adrien knew he would never wear those clothes again), and the night's clothes were brought in. When he was dressed, a mirror was brought before him to look at himself. His face was powdered, his eyes were lined with kohl, lipstick was applied, and a fake mole was placed upon his cheek. He looked every bit a prince, and a clown. He sighed, but let Nathalie usher him out of his apartments. Outside of his sleep quarters were several men ranging in ages. They all stood and bowed for the Dauphin of France.

"How well you're looking, your highness," one bellowed.

"A pity you couldn't be there at badminton, your highness," said another.

"My most sincere apologies for not making an appearance, Lord DuPont," Adrien said, clasping his hands behind his back.

"It's quite alright, my prince," Lord DuPont, replied, as he was supposed to.

If he had offended anyone by not going, they would never say a thing. But that was the superficiality of Versailles, nothing really happened, everyone just acted like it did.

The entourage moved to the palace dining rooms with Adrien at the front of the group. He strutted down the hallway, delighting in the huffing and puffing most of the older men were displaying as they strained to keep up with the Prince. Adrien had refused the usual lifestyle of sitting around, sipping tea and cognac on a chaise in the shade. He preferred to go running and keep his body in good physical condition.

They entered the dining room to an announcement, and the entire table stood to greet the prince. Adrien's eyes flicked from the floor to the head of the table. His father's seat was empty.

A/N: I hope the dichotomy of the two worlds was set up well. One of total poverty, and the other of total wealth. I hope you guys enjoyed it.

No reviews necessary, thank you for reading.