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Story Link :
https://mysnis.tumblr.com/post/617514046484365312/hidden-fashion-strings
Masterpost Link :
https://mysnis.tumblr.com/post/635463374910717952/master-post
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Tim ran his hands through his hair thinking about what he was to do. The business meeting on his latest project to the board was coming up. And so far he had seen that his chances of getting the business to agree and head in his direction were slim. Even with perfect plans, predicted outcomes and the chances of success, no one seemed willing to back him beyond Bruce. And that was not enough support. What Tim really needed was a bit of luck.
Luck he heard about in a nameless designer.
They were new to the scene and had taken fashion by storm. The one truly interesting piece of gossip was that with a custom piece of creation, you were lucky. The website listed "Lucky blossoms" showed all Tim wanted. There were standard creations, available to the public. But the head designer, everything they touched, crafted, personally made granted the lucky owner who commissioned such work to be lucky.
Now, Tim was not a superstitious person.
However, he had to admit the evidence to suggest this increased luck was pretty straightforward. There were stories of celebrities that had commissioned something and then everything was rosy for them, there were personal accounts of those with a picture of their custom piece and the logo that talked of their amazing luck.
So, Tim, with his approaching and most likely doomed business meeting, with how little the board was too willing to support him, may need some luck to swing it. It was obvious of the disapproval and dismissal of his project with the frowns every time it was mentioned. The slight shakes and grunts to avoid answering. The complete avoidance of the topic. They would not agree with him. He really needed a lucky item.
So, he had a deadline, of 3 months, 2 weeks, a day, and 3 hours to find the head designer, and get her to design the outfit that would allow for him to increase his chances of getting this agreement signed.
The good news, in 2 of those hours, figured out who he needed to contact, who wielded magic into the outfits, with the simple forms to fill in, and just looked for clues, IP addresses, everything he could to figure out who he needed.
He was a little surprised to see a 16-year-old staring back at him with her mugshot of a school photo. Marinette Dupain Cheng. She was the head designer. She did remain out of the eye of the public, and no one had revealed her, but it was easy to piece together. She was acknowledged for creating for Jagged before the brand was started up that had the same style. And the same luck with the cd topping charts worldwide for months. He had to remember to never mention that to Dick, it seemed like it was a one-off that allowed her to build her brand, the logo of Lucky Blossom never touching his wardrobe again. His second clue came from the apple blossoms that seemed to adorn her clothes. Apple blossoms were part of the brand's logo as well as her personal style. Other personal things she had crafted and made had resulted in great success for her before the brand's launch.
She was key.
However, as he found on their websites, his plans fell apart quickly.
A note of a customized creation by the head designer was that they did not take on anyone who asked. A complex system indicated that it could take 2 weeks before they would hear back to see if they would take commissions. Tim could understand, but looking at the custom designs, he could tell that the circle of approval was small. If anything, he guessed, you had to gain approval before you ever sent the request. Most who gained clothing seemed either connected to Marinette or a select few that we're super close to her, many of her friends and close fans getting gear while others with more money seemed to get nothing. Tim wondered over the secrecy, and the high levels of avoidance that Dupain Cheng went to. Nevertheless, it was something Tim had to overcome. He had to become a connection, attach himself to Marinette in some form.
It has been two weeks since Tim started his search for the Lucky Blossom head designer Marinette Dupain Cheng. He has mentioned the project to Dick who quickly moved to help him, Bruce who gave his support, and Barbara who acted as a soundboard for all his ideas. Tim dismissed trying to gain friendship with Marinette herself. If she went this far to protect her identity, then him friending her just for a suit did not seem super likely to help him. Barbara agreed with him.
"Going by her social media, she will not like being used by gaining her friendship. Noted several months back is her hatred of liars." Barbara sent the posts and notes on the girl. Tim groaned.
"Somehow, I'm going to have to find a connection that will have someone close to her vouch for me." He looked into connections, pinning them up on a board and attaching a string to each person to map out the social circles. To visually see if he already possessed such a connection, color-coordinating Marinette to show most likely and least likely. It was easier to see if he had one already and continued to look. He found that Marinette had a string of reasonable positive connections to show an unexpected one in Clara Nightingale, but that was not someone he personally knew. But as famous people move in circles, it opened up more options and he took to looking particularly for their social connections.
It had been a month since he started this search. His family had tried to help, but no real connection existed.
So they started looking for what connection they could loosely get. Tim had several empty cans and mugs around him, the bags under his eyes drooped and his usual spark of life was missing.
And still, no connection to be had. He even checked those that had single custom designs of the girl and still, nothing.
"The closest, shortest connection is Lois when she was in the same room and asked the guy a question to quote him on. That's not going to be enough." Tim muttered as he looked at his board showing confirmed, good strings in green. Ladybug popped up a lot for some reason. But that wouldn't work. She was a superhero, she would have no sway over Marinette deciding a client or not at all. Tim made a mental note to try and find out more about Ladybug so the justice league could offer membership.
Yet, the connection he needed, that single string continued to evade him.
Eventually, Bruce tired of it all, set up a gala inviting plenty of people including a good proportion of those shown to have had a connection to Marinette.
Not enough for it to be obvious, but plenty that Tim should be able to make the connection he needs.
He spoke with plenty of them, he created connections, spoke professionally, even interacted with Clara Nightingale who came in an original Marinette design. Tim may have hoped it was a sign and asked about it. He carefully refrained from any mention of looking for a connection, or a suit of his own, but did inquire into the whole secret identity.
"Seems so strange that they do this. Taking only what clients they desire, I've heard plenty of men in the Wayne Industries were looking for a new suit from them to give them a boost of luck, then turned down, even if they offer thousands over the price range as viewable on the website." Clara smiled politely.
"If you knew the efforts the designer goes to, you would be shellshocked for a day. They must have found those you knew, to be unwelcomed to turn away. No one is allowed to approach and receive, without checking and approval you see." Tim blinked.
"Right. So basically, they are not to the standard of the head designer. Makes you wonder what is, but obviously, the standard is not money." Tim mused. Clara frowned.
"I hope you don't intend to figure them out. They went to lengths to ensure their identity did not spread about." Tim waved a hand.
"Even if I got to know them, I find it would be horrible to reveal them. I'm sure there is a reason they are so careful, I would wish to know that if only to help them out." Clara stared at him and nodded.
"If you don't spread it around, I'll say to you what it is right now." Tim blinked in surprise. This was not what he wanted. But maybe it would help him appeal to Marinette. Clara had to be one of her top approval people.
"Are you sure?" He asked warily. Clara grinned, not answering. Tim thought carefully. This must be a test. So he would be best to say no, that it would not be possible for help without personally knowing them. But if it was about testing him with a secret...he needed to say yes.
His thoughts muddled, damn he should have gone to bed last night.
"I'm unsure...I don't want to evade her privacy, but at the same time would like to help. I think I'll pass." Tim stifled a yawn, eyeing the clock. He was going to need more caffeine to make it to the end.
"Excuse me, I have more guests to see. Clara nodded but eyed him oddly as he left. Apparently, she didn't expect him to turn her offer down. Apparently, he failed. Tim avoided groaning. No matter, he had others he could still try and turn to his advantage. He continued to converse through the night.
2 weeks and a day later, and Tim stared unhappily and in disbelief over the email saying his inquiry about a custom piece by the head designer was turned down. Tim groaned and rubbed his head. He had a bit over a month left before the business meeting. He really was starting to run out of time. And his big shot was ruined. Damn his failing Clara's test. He stared at Marinette's profile pic again before sighing and switching it all off.
He knew better than to pray for a miracle, and if she said no, there was no hope for it.
Better spend his time finalizing his notes and talk about why the older men should allow him to go ahead with his idea.
Two weeks. Two long weeks and everything for Tim was prepared. Except for his suit.
Sure he had others, but he needed one that said both "fund this project idiots" and "I'm more important than any of you".
Expensive guys also put a bit of worth into a look to send dominance. Tim had perfected his game.
Which is why he needed a perfect suit.
He was walking to head out and go buy one, have it tailored and ready to go over a two-week period when the door burst open to reveal Damian, Jon, and... Tim stared, jaw hanging.
"Drake, if you don't move and let us enter, I will move you," Damian growled. Jon rolled his eyes and grinned at the girl standing next to him who shared a similar tired yet also understanding smile.
"You're Marinette Dupain Cheng." Tim stared at the girl before realizing what came out of his mouth causing him to reboot.
"What?" She looked at him confused.
"Sorry, I just, I really wanted a design a few weeks back by Apple Blossoms head designer because I could do with a boost of luck and I looked into likely people it was and your name turned up a lot before the brand launched and I figured you were the head designer." Marinette's eyes widened.
"Drake. Stop being a stalker. Sorry, Dupain Cheng, he is often like this, take no notice of him." Damian deadpanned as the elder boy rambled. Jon nodded in agreement.
"You're the one that Clara was unsure of. Because you changed from they to her..." Marinette said. Tim snapped his fingers.
"That's why she looked at me weird, no wonder...is it also what made you say no to a commission when I sent a request?"
"Oh, that's the standard reply at the moment. I'm not available to the office, that any requests are all being turned away." Tim blinked.
"Why are you here?"
"School exchange program. I would have thought Conner told you considering how much Jon had been excitedly talking about it." Damian scoffed. Tim pinched the bridge of his nose.
"No, I've been busy preparing for my nightmare meeting." Marinette interrupted the scoff from her friend.
"Is that why you were inquiring about a suit?"
Tim nodded. "It's going to be an important one, and if it goes through it will help improve lives of Gotham citizens. The trouble? Old rich men don't like new ideas and love money. They won't want to pass it unless I can convince them. While the speech is there, showing I have advantages that they don't would help." He explained.
Marinette nodded. "Basically, you want the suit to both have them stunned over it when they have failed, thinking you must be on the right track and the luck boost rumor to help increase your chances of them passing it."
Tim grinned. "Exactly." Marinette hummed before smiling.
"Done. I'll do the suit. How much time do we have?" Tim blinked.
"The board meeting is in two weeks." Marinette frowned.
"A simple suit... It's possible... Let's head in." She grabbed the older boy and dragged him inside.
"Marinette! What about video games!" Jon called after her.
"I can't waste time!" She yelled back as she shut a door, cutting off both her friends' protests.
"Right," she settled herself at the table and pulled a sketchbook out, "let's do this. What is your general take on what you want?" Tim joined her and explained what he wanted, felt best in, and the message he wanted the suit to send. Marinette nodded, drew up some quick drafts, explained portions of the design, details, and a rough timeline for her to create it all and costs. Tim waved a hand away at fees.
"That's not important right now. What's important is the suit, I'll pay any charges, extra fees, this is important." Marinette nodded. Before joining Damian and Jon again, she handed over a business card with her personal number printed on it.
The suit, 1 week and 5 days later looked impeccable. Tim stared at it. Sure, it looked like any suit that ever existed.
But there were no flaws. Each stitch was neat and perfect. She even mastered the perfect tie in a faded blue to compliment his eyes.
What made the design though, was the little coffee beans sewn onto the inner pocket.
They were found to be on the clasps as well.
She even made the stitches look like little coffee beans somehow!
Tim admired the dedication to an off-hand detail to customize and make the design completely something just for him. He felt amazing and ready to take on the world as he caught sight of the inner detail depicting a little bird on a branch of apple blossoms, and her company's logo of LB along the branch in hidden detail as well as along the outer chest pocket repeatedly as a stitch. He had the suit that would make him lucky in life.
Or at least for the board meeting.
Marinette got a text later, where it had screamed out in joy, "thank you. The luck still works!" She gave a laugh and sent a smiley face back while her friends tried to gain her attention again. Another ladybug-infused project was a success.
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Extra:
Damian glared at Tim. Tim stared back.
"All this time, and you were the required string I needed"
"You aren't allowed to steal Dupain Cheng. She is my friend." Damian continued to glare ignoring the outburst.
"I'm not going to steal her! I got the suit I wanted. Wait, how did she become your friend?"
"She is living with Kent while on this exchange program of hers. She has annoyingly done so for 3 weeks. Kent can't go on patrols. She tags along everywhere with him. It's pathetic." Tim studied Damian.
"Then why do you have a friendship with her?" Tim watched as Damian's cheeks pinkened before he stalked off muttering. Tim decided to let Damian huff off without answering.
After all, Dick would be able to tease the boy without being stabbed.
"Wait, she's been here for 3 weeks?! Damian how could you not mention she was here earlier?!" Tim shouted at the disappearing figure.
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This is not My Story.
Creator of the Story :
mysnis/
@madness grows more madness