FLOWER GARDEN

I cannot believe this fandom. You have such great ideas, that I can't help myself. There's so much to write, yet I'm so busy right now. In regards to AngelFace273's question, these will remain as little moments, but may form a vague plot if I write enough of them. I do have longer ideas with story lines, but I shan't post those until I'm nearly done writing.

Thanks to Mak for the idea. I'm afraid I don't know much about flowers, and was in a rush to get this down. Aki, your idea has been noted! Thank you!

Shout out to aki, Unstoppable Cyborg, AngelFace273, serima, and Mak for reviewing last chapter!

Warnings: vague flower descriptions

"Again, Marinette?"

"Sorry, Mom. They smelled so nice!"

Marinette Dupaine-Cheng stood beaming in the bakery doorway. Her school bag rested comfortably on one hip, her other side was obscured by a large, colourful bouquet.

Her mother gave a sigh then sent her a fond smile.

"You'll have to keep these in your room. The other rooms are already filled."

Somehow, Marinette's smile became even wider than it already was. She danced past her mother, leaving a quick kiss on the woman's cheek. "Thanks, Mom! I know just the place!"

The teenager disappeared up to her bedroom.

That girl and her flowers.

Marinette loved flowers of all shape, size, and colour. They were pretty things, delicate but strong, graceful, playful, and bright. She loved small flowers (tiny white cilantro blooms in a pot on the kitchen counter), big flowers (great yellow sunflowers in a vase by the sitting room couch), and anything in between (marigolds, tulips, roses, chrysanthemums, bouquets).

And when Marinette loved something, she surrounded herself with it.

"Oh! I knew you'd look wonderful there!"

Her newest flower acquisition, a monstrous piece with about ten different flower types, sat by her computer monitor. It was so large that it draped off the edge of her desk, a beautiful overgrown clump. And better yet, green eyes stared back from the screen right beside it. Adrien. Two things she loved so very much, side by side.

"Wow! This looks like the biggest one yet!" Tikki exclaimed.

The little spotted kwami had flown free of Marinette's purse now that they were safe in her room.

"Not quite!" Marinette gave a delighted squeal. "There was that bouquet two years ago. One of Daddy's customers sent it as thanks."

"It's still very large."

"Yes it is! I can't believe I got it at a discount!"

She hadn't recognized the worker at the flower shop. He must have been a new employee, because Marinette had been buying from them for years. The owners treated her as they would a favourite niece. She wasn't sure what to make of his flustered behaviour, but she assumed he was overwhelmed by her excitement. He'd warm up to her eventually.

Tikki landed on Marinette's shoulder and gave her ear an affectionate nuzzle. "As they say, don't look a gift horse in the mouth!"

Marinette grinned. "Absolutely!"

Spritz. Spritz.

Marinette adjusted several leaves on the daffodil plant in the dining room. She gave the plant a final spray of water, and finally decided she was done for the night.

This was her ritual. Every evening (when there weren't any Ladybug situations), Marinette would tend to her plants. They were numerous, spread out around her house. Some had been there for years, but most of her plants came and went. Bouquets like the one she'd acquired today stayed for a few weeks before having to leave. Others were sent off as gifts to friends, bakery customers, and family. She had an uncle in China who especially loved her peonies.

"Marinette! Me! Me!"

Tikki buzzed happily around her head. Mom and Dad had gone out again - date night. Marinette found her parents so cute; even after about two decades of marriage, they were still as in love as when they were dating.

"Alright! Hold your horses." Marinette gave a tinkling laugh and held up the spray bottle. She gently squeezed it, and Tikki shrieked with delight when the mist hit her.

It was a strange pleasure Tikki had picked up. She enjoyed being spritzed, so Marinette, apart from tending her plants, also tended to Tikki at the end of the day.

The two traveled upstairs. Marinette stored her flower care tools in a drawer, and stretched. A yawn escaped her mouth, and she gave a start after checking her clock.

"Wow, Tikki. It's later than I thought."

"You spent a long time with Adrien's flowers," explained Tikki.

That's what the monster bouquet had been dubbed. Adrien's flowers. Because that's who Marinette had thought of the moment she'd set eyes on the bouquet (one of the ten varieties had been superb yellow blooms the size of Marinette's fists), and who she'd ultimately "given" the flowers to. Their place on her desk was a substitute for the courage she didn't have when she was out of suit.

"Come to bed, Marinette!" Tikki called. The kwami had zoomed up to the bed and burrowed into her little space between the pillows. Marinette had never worried about squishing her. The teenager didn't move much in her sleep.

"In a bit!"

After quickly going through her bedtime routine, Marinette returned to her bedroom, pajamas on and hair loose from its usual pigtails. The lights clicked off, and she carefully crawled into bed. Tikki, the tiny thing, was already asleep.

"Good night, Tikki."

Marinette shuffled into a comfortable position. As her eyelids grew heavy, she couldn't help peeking down. She couldn't see her monitor, but she could see a few blooms from Adrien's flowers - grey splotches in the dark.

"Good night, Adrien. Good night, flowers."

She slept soundly.