"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."
"Damian Wayne?" No one spoke up, quieting almost on instinct. Ms. Ruiz came back from the restroom.
"Is everyone here?"
"No, where is Marinette? And Damian? Did no one see them get off the plane?"
"What do you mean?" Ms. Ruiz was worried, they hadn't even been in Paris for half an hour. The group stood outside of their gate where the last few passengers were walking out. Marinette soon emerged with her bag with Damian behind her.
"Sorry! We got stuck in our row."
"More like you refused to move until everyone else was out." Damian commented, annoyed. He knew it was really her not wanting to get off the plane. He had to coax her out, saying that they might get stuck trying to find the hotel alone together if they got left behind. He knew it was half assed, no teacher in their right mind would leave an airport with two students missing but seemed to rouse Marinette from her overthinking and mumbling. Actually landing in Paris must have made reality sink in.
"Okay, thank goodness. We don't want anyone left behind. Welcome to France everyone! Now, we're going to get through customs before picking up the luggage some of us had to check." The group walked through the airport, everyone excitedly talking about what they looked forward to. Marinette smiled and nodded along, adding her two cents here and there but noticed the odd glance from Damian. He was almost worried, but in an annoyed way. Like having to deal with her was a job he'd been assigned.
Customs was alright, though the lines weren't anywhere near as short as in Gotham for obvious reasons. Marinette got more and more anxious as she caught more views of the city of love, she knew there was no reason to be. They'd be visiting very touristy areas if they weren't in the hotel. She'd be fine.
Marinette took a deep breath as she waited in line, she'd been taken to a different line than her classmates because she had a European passport. She patiently waited as an employee in a blue uniform and hat looked over her passport, he looked bored as he compared the photos and checked something. He eventually started asking things like her full name and date of birth before stamping it.
"Merci, monsieur." Marinette waited for her class as they made their way through the lines.
The sleek, modern airport had a domed window filled area dedicated to the gates, the bluenette could still see it behind the lines of people waiting to be allowed into the country. Marinette was standing in a large, wide hallway dedicated to screening those that entered the city of lights. Four stands, divided by partitions and monitored by security filtered the people in, two devoted to people with European passports, another two dedicated to the rest of the world.
The smooth tile floors let Marinette's simple brown ankle boots easily slide over the material as she balanced from foot to foot, her dark well fitting jeans rolled up to just above where her shoes ended. The bluenette's simple white t-shirt wasn't enough to keep her warm so she slipped on her oversized, beige, knit sweater. Her red flannel scarf was securely tied around the handle of her mini, black backpack purse that Tikki and Plagg were tucked away in. Marinette's knotted bun had some fly aways framing her face that she absent mindedly brushed away some strands that got stuck to the chapstick on her lips.
Marinette's group eventually filtered through the checkpoint. They crowded around her, still talking about everything their itinerary listed. The last to pass through was Damian who left a group of tourists gapping after the security guard asked for his name.
"Let's go grab the bags, Marinette the transportation is waiting for us outside, right?" The bluenette jumped when she was called out, quickly turning her airplane mode off and seeing a series of notifications pop-up onto her screen. Going directly to her email, Marinette saw a confirmation that the drivers were waiting outside terminal 1.
"Ye-"
"Ah- French please. As Frantz Fanon once said: 'To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture.'" The bluenette immediately continued in a relaxed french.
"Oui, it says our ride is waiting outside terminal one. We'll need to take the shuttle, the bus will be waiting there."
"Alright, you heard mille. Dupain-Cheng! Let's get going. If we hurry, we can head to a fresh market near our hotel after lunch." The Gothamites buzzed in excitement as they walked toward and boarded the shuttle, getting corrected every time they spoke in english.
"Marinette, where did you live? Was it near the eiffel tower? Could you wake up and drink your coffee on a terrace overlooking those long lawns?" Marinette laughed softly at Sophie's romanticized view of what life in Paris was like.
"No, I lived on top of my parent's patisserie." Many students beamed at that, it sounded almost as picture perfect as breakfast overlooking the eiffel tower.
"And what was school like? Where did you go?" Marinette's eyes widened slightly at that question but she quickly waved it off, saying they weren't there to discuss school. The students persisted, the bluenette almost imperceptibly reluctant, eventually answering.
"Well, our classes worked differently. I stuck with the same group throughout the year. Not changing between classes. I attended College Francois Dupont." Some looked confused at the word college, Damian cut in- putting the conversation to rest.
"It's their equivalent of high school, don't be an imbecile." Marinette hit Damian on the back of his head like Jason or Tim would. Damian gives her a glare that promises death as she speaks, glaring back determinedly.
"Don't be so rude."
"Don't be so self-righteous."
"I am not self-righteous!"
"Says the girl that corrects me every chance she gets." Marinette huffed, about to shoot back ready to correct him on his accent. His pronunciation was overly done, unnatural. She'd get him back for all those meaningless corrections in class but was cut off by Ms. Ruiz who shut it down before it turned into one of their dreaded screaming matches.
"Oh! Look! We're here. Let's get going." Marinette grumbled as she glared, walking out as a smug Damian stared right back. Everyone eventually made their way off the tram and out the terminal.
There wasn't a bus in sight.
"Let me call the company." Marinette dialed the number saved in her phone, it was to the office of the charter company. A polite woman answered.
"Bonjour, my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I was assigned to make arrangements for transportation, they were made for Gotham Academy. We scheduled a bus to pick us up at Charles de Gulle airport but we didn't see a bus."
"Hello, your charter is there. It was less expensive to reserve two large cars, so we spoke with another student in charge of organizing transportation- a boy named Damian."
"What is the make and model?"
"GMC, Yukon XL, black. We just had them imported from America. The drivers should be there, if you have any other issues please don't hesitate to call."
"Merci." Marinette ended the call before glaring at Damian who seemed preoccupied with his phone. He noticed.
"Yes, Marinette?"
"Anything to tell me?" Damian looked up to see a disapproving Marinette, her arms crossed with a leg outstretched in front of her as her weight rested on the one behind her. One of her fingers tapped her crossed arm impatiently.
"Like what?"
"Like that you changed our reservation to two seperate cars? Or that we were looking for the wrong type of vehicle?" Damian rolled his eyes, feigning indifference. He might have apologized to win her approval and get more information out of her but his reputation was damaged enough as is.
"You know now, don't you?" Damian spoke pompously, Marinette scoffed. She watched as he walked towards two sleek, black cars waiting one in front of the other. The drivers exited and greeted their passengers before helping the students and teachers put their bags in the trunks.
The Americans and Parisian were split into two groups. The first car had: Ms. Ruiz, Damian, Marinette, Carrie Grant, the three Valins: Alex, Maddie, and Javi, along with Christopher Lambert, and Greg Roberts. The second car had: Lilith Adams, Sophie Daniels, Liann Miller, Henry Moore, Christine Chandlers, Maya Vega, Jocelyn Volk, and Sophie Lopez. Mr. Bernard was going to take the second car.
Ms. Ruiz sat in the front next to the driver, politely speaking with him in french, she had a Canadian accent to hers. Greg had the window seat behind the driver, then Carrie, Marinette next to her. The two girls were petite so they shared the middle seat, Damian was behind Ms. Ruiz. The three Valins were in the third row laughing or arguing, Marinette just fiddled with her thumbs, not really listening to anyone in particular.
The Parisian's anxiety grew as Paris came into view, they made their way through the city.
"What hotel are we staying at?" Marinette asked, praying her wealthy classmates hadn't decided to stay at Le Grand Paris Hotel.
"Aparthotel, in Bercy Village." Marinette's shoulders relaxed slightly until someone decided to look out the window.
"Hey, is that your old school, Marinette?"