Author's Note: This was written around Chinese New Year in 2007 after remembering something my mother said the previous year, that giving someone peach blossoms will help their love life. I wasn't able to find an exact reference to that idea online but quite a few feng shui sites seemed to talk about buying peach blossoms and placing them for luck in love.

Hey, big bro! Chris was setting things out for tea when Leon walked into the pet shop.

"Hi, Chris." Leon noted the scent of flowers mixed with the usual incense as he ruffled the kid's hair in greeting. He slumped into his usual spot on the sofa and looked around. Ceramic pots and antique vases were scattered all over the room, filled with chrysanthemums, lilies, orchids, peonies, other blooms that he didn't know what to call. "Hey, Count, what's with all the plants? You turning this place into a flower shop?"

D answered as he finished watering a potted kumquat tree. "No, Mr. Detective, I am simply preparing for the Chinese New Year. Flowers are important for bringing good luck and prosperity." He tended to a few more plants and then sat down to tea with the brothers.

After Leon munched messily through his fill of teatime treats (and got scolded by the Count for his lack of table manners), he grabbed his jacket and stood up. "See you guys later. I've got to get back to the station."

With one of his mysterious smiles, the count placed his teacup on the table. "Wait, my dear detective, I have something for you." Gracefully, D rose and moved to the back of the shop, returning a moment later with several slender branches bundled in brown paper. They were as tall as him and dotted with tiny buds, peach blossoms ready to spread their delicate pink petals.

"You're giving me flowers again?" Leon's eye twitched at the thought of what the guys down at the station would say if they saw him with those things. "You know how small my apartment is! Where the hell would I even put these?"

Chris glanced between the two adults. Uh, oh. Here they go again…

D sniffed, turning his nose up at Leon's ignorant reaction. "Hmph. I am trying to help you. Peach blossoms are supposed to bring luck in love." He looked at the policeman, a slightly wicked gleam in his mismatched eyes and a smirk on his lips, as he concluded, "And you, my dear detective, could certainly use it!"

Leon rolled his eyes. "Do you really think I'm desperate enough to believe that? I don't need some dumb flowers to get—" He stopped in mid-sentence, realizing he could barely remember his last date (other than the fact it ended with the girl slapping him, dumping her drink onto his lap, and walking out on him in the middle of a crowded restaurant). "Oh, fine! I'll take them!" Muttering that he must be crazy for letting the Count talk him into this, Leon took the bundle and left, carrying it awkwardly up the stairs.

As D watched his departing guest, he felt a tug on his sleeve.

Chris looked up at him curiously. Count, are those flowers really going to help my brother get a girlfriend?

Smiling at the child's question, he replied, "Well, Chris, we will have to wait and see..."