Of Glitter and Gold

Chapter 25

"How are we doing over here?" Ms. Ruiz and Lilith must have been checking in on them during the flight, they must have dropped by while she was asleep.

"We're good." Marinette smiled before offering them her box of pastries, "Would either of you like any? Mr.IDon'tLikeSweets only took one." Lilith thanked the bluenette as she grabbed a chocolate eclair, Ms. Ruiz politely declined. They eyed the often volatile pair of students hesitantly before leaving.

Marinette saw the way the man next to them looked at the dessert and was about to offer him one, sharing being second nature to her.

"May I see the box again?" The Parisian turned to Damian without another thought, he probably figured out what she was about to do and quickly diverted her. Damian pointed at a green macaron.

"What flavor is this one?"

"Green tea, maybe matcha. It depends on what my papa made, it looks more like green tea to me." Damian carefully picked the dessert up, bringing it to his lips, and biting into the crumbly cookie. Damian's nose scrunched, his eyebrows furrowing as his eyes squinted. His mouth puckered into a frown. He'd expected a tame, bittersweet flavor, perhaps a nutty undertone but was instead greeted by a harsh, tart, sour, almost limey filling that overpowered the cookies he assumed had a milder flavoring, not that he'd be able to taste it. The flavor lingered as Damian forced himself to swallow, the pungent flavor of the jam deepening his displeasure with the dessert.

The boy's classmate laughed, trying to stifle her laughter as Damian put what was left of his macaron down. His face of displeasure was still there, though the deep wrinkles showing his displeasure smoothed as the taste faded.

"That was not green tea." Marinette broke out into another fit of giggles as she watched Damian put the iconic french desert between the two folds of a napkin he'd been given with his water.

"No, it-" Another fit of giggles slipped their way past Marinette's lips, they were pulled into a wide smile poorly covered by her slim fingers. "It was my papa's new key lime pie recipe, though I accidentally added too much green dye." Damian didn't seem convinced.

"Too much lime then?" Damian gave the girl an annoyed glare but he didn't follow through.

The two went back to their respective pastimes, Marinette later insisted Damian have one of her croissants. Not wanting him to starve, it had been a long flight and while the Parisian wasn't one to snack she knew the class wouldn't be able to eat until after they'd at least passed through customs. The plane began its descent a little over an hour later.

"Alright, let's take attendance before we get to customs. Lilith?"

"Here."

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

"Bathroom?" Someone asked, the teacher took it as an explanation and moved on.

"Sophie Daniels?"

"Here."

"Carrie Grant?"

"Here."

"Christopher Lambert?"

"Here."

"Liam Miller?"

"Yep."

"Henry Moore?"

"Yeah?" The boy took off his headphones as he turned to Mr. Bernard.

"Alright.... uh- where was I?" He quietly muttered, " Valin's one two and three?"

"We're here."