The Foul Florist

Midnight in Paris 1.1

A full moon hung low in the Parisian sky, suffusing the city with a gentle glow. Soft laughter and the clicking of dainty shoes drew Adrien's attention to a young couple passing directly under his window. He gazed wistfully at their intertwined fingers.

The sandy-haired woman looked up at her broad-shouldered companion, and he smiled. She blushed so furiously that even Adrien could see it by the dim light of the street lamp. Drunk on their own love, the two giggled and bumped one another as they rounded the corner and passed out of sight.

With a dejected sigh, Adrien turned away from the romantic scene and picked up the unsigned poem he'd been studying. He'd read it every night since he'd stood with Ladybug on that candlelit rooftop; when she'd revealed there was already a boy in her life.

"Together for eternity, my heart belongs to you."

Adrien's stomach cringed as he voiced the last line aloud.

"Who would write such a thing if they didn't mean it?" he moaned to Plagg.

With an exaggerated roll of his eyes, Plagg replied, "We've been through this a hundred million times. You don't know if Ladybug wrote that mush!"

"But, who else could it be?" He knew the kwami was right, but Adrien's traitorous heart refused to relinquish the hope it was from her.

Plagg opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the tolling of the hour.

Midnight.

Adrien walked back to the window. A cool wisp of air rifled his blonde hair and brought with it a faint, but aromatic scent of roses; yet another reminder of his lady.

Certain that sleep was not in his near future, Adrien hopped onto the sill.

"Oh no, " Plagg began to whine, "we're not going out, are we? Tomorrow's a school day!"

Grinning, Adrien teased, "Come on Plagg, where's your sense of adventure?"

"It's in the downstairs fridge with that assorted cheese tray we ordered!" He hovered glumly at the boy's shoulder, awaiting the inevitable transformation command.

"We won't be long, " Adrien assured him, "I just want to get some of those flowers for Ladybug."

Plagg stuck out his tongue and made a gagging noise at the mention of flowers. "What about a nice wheel of camembert? Surely any girl worth our time would be delighted with that."

Adrien just shook his head and said, "Claws out, Plagg!"

"Fine, have it your way." The little cat was sucked into Adrien's miraculous and a moment later he dove from the window disguised as Cat Noir.

A plan blossomed in the clever cat's mind as he bounced from roof to roof, following the floral smell. Winning this competition was not going to be easy, especially since Adrien had no idea what he was up against.

But the prize was worth all the trouble in the world.