Marinette Dupain-Cheng took in a deep breath, proudly grinning at the new sign in front of her shop. It was big, red and glowing, spelling out "Ladybug" in a fancy text. The subtext read "Tattoo Parlor" and had the shop's phone number glowing underneath it. The young artist sighed dreamily, then stepping back into her new place.
Since Marinette had been a young girl, she knew she wanted to become an artist. Well, next to a teacher, architect, model, zoologist, and fashion designer. However, her parents could tell she had a knack for art. They said that she was the lucky one in the family, the latest generation with the "art gene." Marinette couldn't help but agree; her friends had always complimented her work. Her favorite muses of all had been flowers, due to their delicacy. They never (usually) moved and they always looked so…fresh, vibrant. She adored carnations, especially pink ones.
When Marinette had been asked what she had wanted to do with her art, she had thought hard. The young woman wanted to make an impact, and she wanted to work close with people. She wanted to make her mark, but also wanted to make people happy. That's when "tattoo artist" popped into her head, and her parents immediately supported her, raising money for her tattoo parlor.
And there she was, a month into her profession, somewhat close to broke.
The dark-haired girl sighed, tying her short hair into a short, low ponytail. She had only been open for a few hours, and she hoped that someone, anyone, would show up. Her bird, a scarlet tanager named Tikki, flew near her shoulders, chirping happily towards the shop window. Marinette smiled down at her companion.
"Ah, Tikki, you're always so happy," Marinette laughed, heading towards the cash register as Tikki flew closer towards the shop window. The short girl counted up her week's earnings, which was only about €650. She was starting to get annoyed by Tikki's constant chirping; while Marinette loved the bird, she was nearly ready to rip her small pet's feathers out.
"What it is that you want?" she shouted, angrily stomping towards the window. That's when she came upon a realization: Tikki had a good taste in men.
Adrien Agreste looked outside his window and across the street to see a young woman, probably in her early twenties, puffing her chest out proudly at her new sign. She was dressed intricately, in pink shorts and suspenders, along with a plain black tee. The blond couldn't guess what brand the designs were from, so he took a wild guess and assumed she made it all herself. The thing he liked most were the tattoos of flowers on her arms and their detailed looks. He smiled at her childish antics, returning back to petting his cat, Plagg.
Only a month ago, Adrien had opened his shop, Chat Noir, to escape his duties given to him by his father, the one and only Gabriel Agreste. He had hated working with his father, so he had decided to choose something that had always caught his eye: flowers.
Adrien, as described by his friends, family, and former co-workers, was a flower. They had described him as delicate as a flower, a fresh face. When he was young, his mother had influenced his main interest in flowers. Her profession was also as a florist, and that made Adrien want to become a florist too. Gabriel, however, had other plans, which were to make Adrien invest his time in the fashion industry, but the boy protested against it. No wonder he hadn't seen his mother in a while.
Now a young man, Adrien pushed his glasses back up, as they had nearly fallen off the tip of his nose again. Plagg stretched out his legs as his owner walked over to his main display of flowers. The black cat jumped up onto a hanging swing, which Adrien had made for him so he could sit in the window, and he spotted a small bird, a red and black one, across the street. He commenced a staring between them, meowing at his future lunch.
In a semi-quiet voice, Adrien asked the cat, "Plagg, what'cha see outside?" He headed back towards the cat, caressing the back of his cat's ears. That's when he realized that Plagg had one good purpose: he had a good taste in women.
Marinette stared at the young man through the window, her face turning as red as Tikki's feathers. His honey-like hair looked as fluffy and bouncy as clouds, and he had a soft smile. She could make out a form-fitting purple shirt, khakis and a light yellow apron. He looked like an angel in Paris.
The dark-haired woman covered her cooling cheeks, embarrassed. Yes, he was good-looking, but he was also…very quiet-looking. She couldn't help but imagine his soft voice as she continued to stare at him, her eyes scanning over his large build. Her cheeks warmed up some more, and she quickly turned around to hurry back to the cash register and pretend that she didn't look weird to the new stranger that had waltzed into her life.
Meanwhile, Adrien searched for her through the window, seeing as she had retreated. His face was a crimson color, and Plagg meowed at him, as if to say, "Well, look at the lovesick idiot we have here!" He took his glasses off, blinked twice, and put them back on. Had this special girl been an illusion? No, he was sure she'd been there, because he had seen her earlier, and seeing her beauty sent chills down his spine.
The florist once again returned to his collection of flowers, deciding that this girl seemed nice, confident, and outgoing, based on her actions. What would he give her as a gift of his newfound affec- no. His newfound…interest. Yes, interest was the word. What flower was suitable as a gift for a new acquaintance?
Adrien's eyes settled on a bright yellow bunch of daffodils. Ah, daffodils, classic. Adrien could recall that daffodils were a symbol of rebirth, or new beginnings, as well as eternal life. They were also indicative of unrequited love, because as far as the florist knew, his feelings were one-sided. She had made his stomach flop with one glance, and she probably thought he was some anxious nerd. He'd just have to prove himself then.
His nimble fingers took a single daffodil out of the vase it had been in, and he hesitated. If he remembered correctly, a single daffodil meant misfortune, while a bunch meant happiness and joy. With the verdict set, the young man grabbed the entire vase, his cat (who started to cling to the cushion of his small swing for dear life, but gave up, seeing as fighting it would be of no use,) and a pencil, just in case.
Across the street, Tikki chirped at Marinette, as if to say, "Hey, he's coming over! At least look presentable!" Said lady rose from behind the cash register and shut her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She had to make a good impression on him, because this would be her only chance. When she opened her eyes, she looked at him through the glass door as he smiled. He was carrying an entire vase of flowers in one arm, which, if she remembered correctly, were daffodils. A black cat was sitting with an irritated look in the man's other arm. (Whether the cat was sincerely annoyed or if he just had resting bitch face was a mystery to Marinette. Either way, he was intimidating.) She could see his eyes, which were as green as a fresh spring lawn.
Somehow, the young man was able to enter the tattoo parlor without dropping the flowers or the cat. (Thus, the dark-haired woman assumed this new…interest of hers was most likely a superhero.) He smiled cheerfully at her, his cheeks tinted pink. "Hi there," he greeted, "I'm Adrien. As you can guess, I own Chat Noir, the flower shop across the street." The blond grinned, making Marinette smile back.
"I'm Marinette!" she started off with. "Over there is my bird, Tikki. O-oh, and this is my tattoo studio, Ladybug!" The small bird chirped at her and landed once again on her shoulder, making the cat meow and swat a paw at her.
"I forgot, this is Plagg!" Adrien started off, adjusting said cat into a comfortable position. "He's a bit…grumpy. Anyway, here's some flowers for you! Th-they're on the house! Daffodils represent rebirth and good luck." He held out the vase to her, mostly so he could hide his blush. He saw Marinette's eyes light up.
"R-really?" she asked, dumbfounded. Adrien nodded, and she took the flowers from his grasp and set them next to the cash register. "Th-thank you so, so much! As you can probably tell, I really like flowers." She laughed, then held out an arm for him to see. She felt the blond's soft skin against hers as he took her wrist and let the cat down, and she knew she had guessed right about him being a gentle person.
Adrien's eyes scanned his new companion's arms, fascinated. It was as though she had actually flowers on her arms, with such great detail. He could see yellow and red roses, a few purple spring crocus, a pink carnation…he absolutely adored her arms. He looked up at Marinette with a childish wonder. "Did you make these?" he asked, dismissing the blush on her face.
"Some of them…mostly the ones closer towards my hands." she said, looking away for a split second, then looked back at him. She heard him murmur something along the lines of "this is amazing" and he let go of her wrist.
"M-M-Marinette, these are gorgeous!" Adrien stuttered, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He released her arm, albeit reluctantly, and scooped Plagg back up. The cat meowed in protest, as he had been in pursuit of this "Tikki" creature. Marinette laughed at the black cat's higher-pitched meow, then looked back at Adrien.
"Thank you! This may seem cliché and all, but when I was younger, I knew I wanted to make art," began Marinette sheepishly, "and flowers were my favorite muses. Lots of carnations, in fact." She grinned, rubbing the back of her neck. Oh dear, I probably look like a tomato.
Adrien turned his head to look back at his shop, spotting an older man heading towards it. "Sorry, I've got to go right now. Duty calls!" he apologized, heading towards the door. Plagg took one last swat at the red and black bird, then gave up. "Hopefully you can come to my shop later!" He was already halfway out the door.
"B-bye, Adrien!" Marinette called, cupping her hands. "Visit soon, okay?"
She watched as Adrien walked fully out the door, rushing back over to Chat Noir to open the door for the old man. Plagg's limbs were flying around as his owner jogged across the street, but Marinette couldn't tell whether or not the cat was doing that on purpose. She went to the back and sat down on a stool, hands mushing her cheeks.
"Tikki, I think I'm in love," she mumbled, smiling to herself.
Said bird chirped happily, as if to say, "I can't wait for the wedding!"
VW: Hey guys! It's been a while since I actually wrote this much! Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! It might seem rushed, and honestly, it probably isn't my best. I'll probably proofread all this later, unless someone offers to be my beta or something like that.
Anyway, my tumblr is marionette-marinette, and I'll also be posting the story there soon. And once again, credit for the AU goes to meru90 on tumblr! Thanks for reading!
Fun fact of the chapter: the title, Ink Carnations, refers to Marinette and Adrien respectively. It also sounds very close to incarnation, which means "one of a series lives that a person is believed to have had in past" and stuff like that. I guess it relates to the term "AU" itself, huh?
Question of the chapter: what's your favorite flower?