AN: Chapter prompt: Cupid

Chapter Two: Setup

"Well," Nooroo said to Duusu once they were alone. "That was an interesting morning."

She whizzed around the room, giddy with glee. "Such a good question he asked! I told you contacting Adrien would be a good idea!"

"We don't know he'll be able to pull it off."

"Of course he will! Didn't you see how they all reacted? Now he'll have more allies than he'll know what to do with!"

"Let's just hope it hasn't embarrassed them both into deeper denial," Nooroo said.

"Your dad likes cheesy puns?" Marc asked in amazement. "I would never have guessed."

"Nor would I, actually," Adrien said. "But I've heard him use a couple when talking to Nathalie, and she smiled."

Something we have in common, he thought idly. Using puns to flirt with the one we love. Good thing it's more effective on Nathalie than it is on Ladybug.

"What else?" Marc asked.

"Well … he's not really good with emotion. So it should sound kind of awkward. If it's too … competently romantic … she's going to know he didn't write it."

"Well, I'll do my best," Marc said. "Though you know love letters aren't really my forte."

"That's fine. They're not my father's either."

"Adrien, please stand back a bit," Alya said, putting a firm hand on his shoulder. "You're putting the artist off."

"Oh—sorry, Marinette." He drew back. "Better?"

"Much, thanks Adrien."

Really, having the two of them present while she worked was still off-putting, but she needed them both there. Adrien to vet her imitation, and Alya to step in if he became too much of a distraction for her to concentrate.

After half an hour of painstaking effort in complete silence, Marinette held the result up to the light. "Well? How's this?"

Adrien took it and examined it closely, an impressed smile breaking over his face. "It's amazing, Marinette. You'd make a great forger."

"Good thing I'm not criminally minded," Marinette said with a giggle. "Thank you."

"I would have a really tough time telling this apart from my father's real handwriting."

"But what about Nathalie?" Alya asked. "She probably knows it better than you do."

Adrien considered. "Probably, but I know it's a forgery and can't see the difference; she won't know. This is really excellent work, I really doubt she'll be able to tell either. Besides, she'll want to believe it's from him, won't she? And people see what they want to see."

"Bad news," were Chloé's first words when Adrien picked up the phone.

"What? What bad news?"

"I talked to Daddy, and he says sorry but the hotel's already all booked up for Valentine's Day. It always gets booked up months in advance. What about a restaurant?"

"No, no, no," Adrien replied, starting to panic. "That won't work."

"Why not? There might still be some not booked up already."

"Even if there are, that's not the problem. You know what my father's like! It's like pulling teeth to get him to leave the house at all; it's ten times more difficult to get him to go somewhere that's not familiar to him. And Mrs Tsurugi isn't so different."

"She's not going, though. It's just a ruse to get him and Nathalie there."

"A ruse which my father won't buy if it's not plausible!"

"Oh. Point taken. Well … there's still a table free for the thirteenth," Chloé said.

"The night before?"

"Yeah. That might be better, actually, won't it? They might be too suspicious if it's actually on Valentine's Day. Especially after all your hints and stuff."

"Oh." Adrien hadn't thought of that. "Yeah, that makes sense. Could you get your dad to make the reservation, then?"

"I'm on it."

"I think it's a beautiful idea," Marlene said, smiling at Alya and Adrien.

"So you can do it?"

"I don't see why not, if André is on board?"

They all looked around.

He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his eyes. "Of course, of course!"

"Great! Thank you both so much!" Adrien said enthusiastically.

"Do you need to meet them beforehand?" Alya asked André.

"No, no. I already know which combination will be perfect!"

Tom pulled out a heart-shaped cutter. "Which flavours do you think?"

Adrien considered. "Can you do rose flavour?"

"Rose? Oh yes, we can do that!"

"Rose and raspberry, then," Adrien said.

"It's such a sweet idea, Adrien," Sabine said. "You're obviously a big romantic."

"I guess I am," he said, not noticing how flushed Marinette's face went, not even after both of her parents glanced in her direction.

His phone beeped, and he looked down at the new text. "That was Chloé. Her butler's put in the order at her favourite confectioners'."

"Just how many people have you roped into this project?" Tom asked.

"I rather lost count," Adrien admitted. "If you'll excuse me, I have an appointment at the florist …"

To Be Continued …