#Emerged into a chilly December evening and took in a great big breath of the air

[kcrabb88]

I went to a Wicked singalong today and it was truly SO FUN. More adults would enjoy themselves more if they had a bit more childlike whimsy in their lives.

[thewritewolf]

Eating Habits Chapter 11: A Dupain-Cheng Christmas

Marinette and Adrien move into their new apartment, but they aren’t there for long before heading over to spend a few days at the bakery for the holidays.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3.

Marinette wandered around the apartment that she had spent the last few months living in. Somehow, she had expected it to look bigger now that it was empty again, but instead it just made her wonder how she hadn’t noticed how tiny it was. With the excitement of living on her own faded away, the apartment’s flaws were huge and glaring. The faster she would be out of it, the better.

Just outside the door, Adrien was leaning against the wall on his phone. He looked up at her and smiled when he heard the door close and lock behind her. He fell into step beside her as she marched down the stairs.

“How’s it feel to see it for the last time?” He reached for her hand and wove his fingers between hers. “Nostalgic? Relieved?”

“A little nostalgic, but mostly relieved,” Marinette admitted with a shrug. “I didn’t make a lot of positive memories there, so leaving it behind isn’t that rough. Then again, it is my first place away from home, you know?”

Marinette turned to look at Adrien and saw the understanding in his eyes. Suddenly she wanted to smack herself in the forehead. Of course he knew! He’s been away from home for years now. If anyone could understand, it was him.

But to her surprise, he nodded and said, “Yeah, leaving the bakery was an… interesting time for me too. There is always something sweet about spending the night there.” He pressed a kiss against the crown of her head. “It isn’t the same without you, of course.”

“Something ‘sweet’, huh? Was that a pun, kitty?” She tried to ignore the way her heart fluttered - she couldn’t tell if it was from joy that he called her home his home, or from pain that he never saw his childhood estate as home.

“Maybe it was just a happy coincidence. Some Christmas magic in the air!”

She rolled her eyes playfully. “Speaking of Christmas, are you ready to spend a few days at the bakery?”

“Definitely! It’ll be nice and cozy and full of life.”

“And someone will finally be making food for you rather than you cooking, for once.”

“I do like taking a break every now and then. But I’m more looking forward to you getting a proper, home cooked meal.”

“And here I thought getting a special lunch everyday from my wonderful boyfriend counted as a ‘proper’ home cooked meal.” She looked up at him and smiled, watching with satisfaction as his face flushed. He was such a flirt, but he never was good at taking what he dealt out.

The conversation drifted through Christmas plans and promises to find time for their friends. It touched briefly on the upcoming semester, but they wisely avoided dwelling on it for too long. Marinette had only just finished the fall semester after all. She wanted to revel in her break without a care in the world for just a little longer.

They arrived at their new apartment just as the movers began unloading. An hour later, and the empty space was taken up with boxes of things. Marinette looked around at the boxes, her smile slowly turning into a frown as she noticed a unifying theme with the storage containers.

“Hey, Adrien? Where is all of your stuff?”

“Um…” His eyes roved the room quickly before settling on a few tucked away in the back. He stood beside them and let his hand rest on them. “This is it.”

She glanced between him, the five or so containers all stacked on top of each other, and then at the two dozen or so boxes of hers scattered around the room.

“I… I don’t really have a lot.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I have some games and a collection of movies, but I gave most of that away back when I moved into the bakery. I don’t have a huge wardrobe anymore either. I guess I just… never really got much for me? Besides some pots and pans, I guess.” He shrugged, an uncertain smile on his face.

Again, Marinette looked at the boxes holding all her things. It wasn’t just the bare essentials, things necessary for her to survive from day to do. They were memories. Hobbies. Studies. The things that turned survival into living. She was suddenly gripped by a piercing sadness in her heart. A little teary eyed she turned back to Adrien, who was looking down at his stack of things with a thoughtful expression, fingers drumming on the plastic lid.

“It’s fine, really. I’ve never actually needed much and it does help cut down on stress while moving, so there is definitely a bright side to-” He was cut off when Marinette ran into him, arms clinging tightly to his waist as she buried her face into his chest. After a few surprised moments, he returned her hug.

“Don’t be afraid to take up space, kitty,” Marinette said into his shirt. “Let yourself live, okay?”

“Thanks, lovebug.”

After a little longer than strictly necessary, Marinette let him go and looked around at the boxes, frowning. “So… where do you want to start?”

Before he could respond, her stomach growled.

Adrien laughed. “Sounds like a plan. Let me just-” Adrien groaned when he opened the refrigerator, only to find it empty. “...How about some grocery shopping?”

-------------

“Are you sure you’ve got all that?” Marinette watched him dubiously as he walked out of the supermarket, each hand holding three or four bags of groceries. “Both of my hands are empty, you know.”

“Oh, right. That’s a good point. Give me a minute.”

Absently, Marinette held out her hand while she opened her phone, expecting him to pass her some of the bags. She blinked in surprise when he started holding her hand instead. Her eyebrows rose when she saw that he’d simply moved all the bags into his other hand.

“Adrien that’s not what I-”

“Come on, let’s go make our first dinner at the new place!” Adrien rushed forward, dragging her along with him as he broke into a light jog towards the bus station.

Marinette couldn’t help but laugh at his ridiculousness. It wasn’t even a full day that they’d been living together and she was already loving every moment of it.

---------------

After a week of unpacking, Marinette and Adrien finally had their apartment set up and functional… only for them to immediately leave to spend a few days at the bakery. Each of them carried a suitcase in one hand and held onto each other with the remaining free hand. They chatted as they walked through the snowy streets of Paris on the way to the family bakery, Marinette cuddling closer as the icy wind picked up.

“Look on the bright side, bugaboo,” Adrien said with a kiss to her temple. “It’ll be nice and warm and perfect when we get back to the apartment. We can just relax for the rest of your vacation.”

“Our vacation,” Marinette corrected. “The bakery isn’t open much around Christmas either, and I’m sure papa and maman won’t be giving you many shifts there while we’re getting settled in. Besides, it's not like being at my parents’ place is stressful or anything.”

“I suppose, but after a semester of running around and working frantically, I’d bet you just want to crash on the couch for a while.”

“You’re not wrong, but…” Marinette said as she squeezed his hand, “...spending time with the people I love is even better.”

She could see his teary smile as they approached the bakery, its lights reflected in his eyes. After walking out in the chilly late December air for the last ten minutes, the gentle warmth of the bakery was simply divine. And that was before taking a deep breath of the sugary air, a scent that immediately took her back to her childhood. It was as if she took the weight of the world off her shoulders and hung them along with her coat by the door.

“Marinette? Adrien? Is that you?” Tom’s voice called out from the living room. Soon enough, his giant self was emerging through the door frame, his face lighting up when he saw them. “Sabine, it’s the kids!”

Marinette had a brief glimpse of a garish red and green sweater before becoming lost in it as she was picked up off the ground and wrapped into a great big bear hug. Laughing, she squirmed in his arms.

“Papa! Let me down!”

Begrudgingly, he did so and looked at Adrien, giving him a strong pat on the back that jolted him forward. “Did you remember to dress for the occasion, son?”

“Did you think I would forget?” Adrien said with a smirk, taking off his coat to reveal a thick red and black wool sweater that Marinette had made for him a couple years back.

Tom glanced toward Marinette, who was wearing a matching green and black sweater. To everyone else, it would simply be a pair of Christmas clothes, but Marinette had known even back then how much Adrien loved wearing her colors. And if he was going to be wearing hers, then naturally she’d be wearing his.

“That’s wonderful!” Tom said, grinning. “I didn’t expect any less. Now come on, we were just about ready to make this year’s Christmas ornaments.”

They followed him into the living room, where Sabine was sitting with some tea in front of her. After giving both of them a tamer but no less loving hug, she passed them a cup of her seasonal brew. Marinette looked at the table, taking in the box of crayons, the blank glass bulbs, tweezers, and the two hair dryers. Not to mention a few more conventional art supplies, like brushes and paint. Her chin settled on her hand as she stared fondly at the supplies, a tradition that they’d been keeping alive for almost as long as she could remember.

A tradition that had evolved into something of a lighthearted competition once Adrien had entered the picture and they could split into even teams.

Her parents let them get comfortable in their seats and familiar with where everything was placed before Tom pulled out his phone.

“Same as usual, kids. One hour to make the most and the best ornaments, with the same grading standards from last year.” He waggled a finger at Adrien chastisingly. “Which means nothing that can start a fire hazard, alright?”

Adrien ducked his head bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“Alright.” Tom held up the phone’s stopwatch, his finger hovering over the enlarged start button. “Ready… set… Go!”

The four of them exploded into a flurry of motions, scrambling for crayons and bits of ribbon. Marinette became focused on what she and Adrien were doing, blocking out her parents entirely. The first ornament was very basic - the only crayons were some green and red and a bit of white. Enough to hand over to Adrien so he could start heating it up with the hair dryer, the longest part.

After she had several ornaments prepped with crayon color pallets, she began working on cutting tasteful amounts of ribbons to top the orbs with. Her hands moved almost by instinct, the long semester having seen more than its fair share of fabric cutting and measurements by eye. By the time she was done with that, Adrien had finished melting the wax of two of the ornaments and was methodically working on the third. The ribbons were quickly tied into a neat bow and she began delicately painting wintery scenes on the outside - white snowflakes featuring heavily alongside flowing script.

Once they got into a groove, they worked like the well oiled machine that they always were. By the time the hour was up, there were eleven finished ornaments in front of them. A quiet sense of pride filled her as she looked them over. Now that she wasn’t timed, she could enjoy how good they turned out. Maybe one of these years she could add them to her online store as a seasonal special?

She looked over at her parents’ side and noticed that they had managed to squeeze in an extra one somehow. After some playfully heated debate, they decide that everyone had won, though it had been especially close this year.

The Christmas tree was adorned with the newest ornaments, but Marinette didn’t manage to hang more than one before she got caught up looking at ones from previous years. Most of them would be given away to friends and family, but the best they kept. Whether it was because they were the highest quality or the ones that were the heaviest with memories, it didn’t matter.

Her fingers traced over a particularly old one, and a small smile warmed her face at the memories it stirred.

“Adrien’s first Christmas here, right?”

Marinette jolted a little at her mother’s voice appearing right beside her. The expression on her face must have been similar to Marinette’s own, eyes distant as if seeing back into that night, years and years ago, when the two of them had just started dating.

“Yeah… he made this one himself,” Marinette replied, turning back to the hung decoration.

It was pretty clear it had been his first attempt at anything like that before. The white and pink of the wax didn’t cover the inside completely and patches of bare glass were frequent. A stick figure with pigtails holding hands with a plain stick figure Adrien had promised was the two of them standing under a green splodge that she was assured was mistletoe. It wasn’t the prettiest thing he’d made - as the years wore on and he spent more Christmases at her home, he’d certainly gotten better - but it was always stayed her favorite.

Adrien groaned when he saw what they were looking at, his cheeks flushing as red as his sweater. “Do we really need to stare at that one every year? It looks awful!”

“It’s cute!” Marinette patted his back. “Little baby Adrien made that one just for me.”

Adrien grumbled and looked away, his blush spreading down to his neck. Mercifully, she let go of the ornament and walked away.

The rest of the night was just as eventful. They baked cookies and sang while they did it, ranging from peaceful lullabies to loud and off-key pop songs. Marinette didn’t realize just how much she had missed the home cooked pastries until she bit into one for the first time in months.

She has halfway through a plate when there was a loud noise from the kitchen. Her papa came out, his apron soaked, but still in good spirits.

“Something happen in there?” Marinette said, raising an eyebrow as she lifted another cookie to her mouth. She had to remember to leave some for Tikki or else she wouldn’t speak to her for a month.

“Oh, don’t worry, dear,” Tom replied. “The kitchen sink just needs some attention is all. Adrien, can you get the toolbelt? I think it’s time for us to earn our keep, hm?” He smiled and winked.

While Adrien left her side, she settled into the empty space he left and closed her eyes. She was glad she had a home to come back to - and she was happy that she could share hers with Adrien. A satisfied smile came to her face as she thought about their living space now, and how much better it would be now that they were living together again.

The snow started coming down hard outside, but wrapped up in a warmth that went beyond the physical, Marinette didn’t mind a bit.

[paytonspassport]

A Freudian Trip: Day 22

This morning, we woke up early to be able to make our way to the side entrance of the natural history museum where our bus was planning to pick us up. While I was planning to pack my backpack with two water bottles and a raincoat, but only ended up packing two water bottles because I hd to wear my raincoat out of the apartment. Yes, after all this complaining about sun and heat and such, it was drizzly, cold and gray on the day of our outdoor field trip. Most of the underground stations (especially popular ones in the city center) have more than 2 exits onto various streets in the area. I’m sure this would be very helpful if you had a basic understanding of the U-bahns and the streets of Vienna, but when you do not, it is essentially a roll of the dice. The last couple of times when I have followed my instincts, my instincts have been wrong. This isn’t catastrophic, but in huge underground stations like Volkstheater, you could end up fairly out of your way. That was why when we emerged from the underground this morning and it spit us out right behind the natural history museum, we knew it was going to be a good day. 

The bus ride to Semmering was quiet, as half of us were dozing off and on, and beautiful, as we drove out of Vienna and through the surrounding farmland into the foothills of the Alps. It’s remarkably green in Austria, even after spending the last 9 months in Washington. The low gray clouds looked all too familiar as well. Our giant bus drove up some switchbacks that made us all hold our breath and close our eyes, and feel really grateful we didn’t have to drive the bus up all that. The bus dropped us at the bottom of the ski slope where they are going to host the women’s world cup the last weekend of December and first weekend of January this year. This is all according to the other psych professor, Professor Stipsits, who is, sorry to let you down, Dos Equis, the most interesting man in the world. He seems to have been everywhere and knows everything. Honestly, I aim to grow up to be half as cool as him. 

We got to take the gondola up to the top of the mountain and walked up this huge wooden tower that they built for people to be able to better able to see the village and surrounding mountains, including mount Schneeberg, which has a fun name and is the tallest mountain in Lower Austria (Stipsits fact #2). It was quite a bit chilly even though it felt like there were half a million stairs to get to the top. In between the clouds, the views were stunning. 

After walking back down all the stairs, we waited for the other half of our group to go up (apparently they don’t want more than like 20 people on top of a wooden platform several stories in the air--who’d have thought?). We kept ourselves busy with continuing to admire the view and the groups of wildflowers. Admiring the view and flowers looked a lot like “taking lots of photos in front of” said view and flowers.

When we had all gathered again, we began our little hike down the mountain. It was so nice to be out in the trees and criss crossing across ski slopes covered with long grass and the wildflowers. The air smelled so nice, and it was also very pleasant to not be shoving your way past all the other tourists on crowded sidewalks along busy streets. Living in Vienna doesn’t feel too confined for a big city I think mostly because of how quaint it is. It was still nice to spend some good time outside though, and the clouds which obscured our view kept us cool on the walk. When we made it to the bottom of the mountain an hour or so later, it was time to hop back on the bus and loop back down through the hills to our lunch location. I dozed off on the way so I honestly couldn’t tell you where we were, only that it seemed like the middle of nowhere and that, somehow, the large restaurant was bustling with people, even before 40 psychology students filed in. Per Professor Stipsits recommendation (and because it seemed like a great deal for the price), three of the four people at my table ordered one of their “menus” that came with soup, a main course, and a dessert. The soup was an option of “dumpling soup or pancake soup.” Our waiter had pretty good English but we had to imagine “pancake soup” was a translation error. We all ordered it in the name of adventurousness, and learned that pancake soup was in fact a very very accurate translation. 

Imagine chicken noodle soup, but instead of noodles, you had thin strips of crepe in there. It was, after the initial amusement with the texture, delicious. It’s a very Austrian soup, apparently. I can honestly say I can recommend it. Next was our main course, which was really tender pork in a thin gravy type thing and a bread dumpling. It was exactly the right kind of warm filling meal you needed in the middle of an adventure. Then, the best part, we got to pick a dessert off the cart. Unfortunately, when you have 40 students all eating in the same place, by the time the cart gets to you there’s not many options left. Olivia and Catie both got a cake that was very nutty and pretty good, not overly sweet. I picked one that looked like a normal cake with a layer similar to theirs, nutty.

Also who wouldn’t want cake with pink icing? I took my first bite and it was weird. That was fine, I didn’t know what to expect so first bite was bound to be weird. I took another bite and it was...bad? The cake was bad. It tasted really really bad. Olivia and Catie had been discussing what their cake could have in and it such and noticed I’d been quiet. “How’s yours?” they asked. “Bad?” Crystal was voted to try it. She did and laughed, the cake was a rum cake. But not like a bake it off rum cake, it was like a they literally-soaked-the-cake-in-rum rum cake. She liked it, Olivia tried and agreed, it was too strong. I wanted to wring it out and have maybe like 1/8 the amount of rum in there. Either way, it was the middle layer that was bad so I ate around it and gave it to Crystal and spent the rest of the day feeling like a little kid that tried “the adult cake” instead of the kid cake. 

After lunch, we drove back to the bottom of the hill the restaurant was on to “Hermannshühle” or Herman’s cave. We split the group in half again and my half got to go on the cave tour first. It’s apparently 7-8 degrees Celsius in the cave at all time, which I converted into Fahrenheit as even chillier than outside. The cave was huge and remarkably well lit with some lights installed in there. Lots of rock formations were pointed out to us in German and were translated by one of the adults from our school. No scientific names, just things like “the chandelier” “the turtle” and “the Smurf house” (complete with toy Smurf inside).

It’s really hard to take good photos in a cave. It was also a really big cave! We walked up stairs and downstairs and even when it looked like it was a dead end our guide would just slip behind a rock and it would be like another hallway or tunnel. We stood in total darkness for a moment or two, and unlike the other group, the power stayed on for us. They made it out just fine with cellphone lights and the guide’s flashlights. 

We hopped back on the bus and went to the house of Ludwig Wittgenstein, an Austrian philosopher who worked a lot with the mind and logic. Professor Stipsits had grabbed the key to the house/museum (3 sparse rooms) and gave us the guided tour himself, talking about the town and Wittgenstein’s connections in Vienna to people like Freud and Klimt. I’m excited to pry Olivia for more information once her class talks about him more. We were discouraged from reading his philosophy books because they were complicated and dry. 

I fell asleep on the ride back to Vienna for a bit, it had been a long day at that point. We stopped at another Heuriger (wine drinking place!) just outside of the city. Finally, the weather was warm and beautiful, perfect for eating outside. Professor Stipsits asked to sit with Olivia, Crystal, Catie, and I and taught us what he had learned in a wine tasting seminar. So now I’m probably a professional wine taster. We also got a brief history lesson on Sisi, the adored wife of Emperor Franz Josef. We also got a second pitcher of wine, his treat (much to the envy of other tables). He happened to live in the suburb where the Heuriger was and knew the family who worked it and said he’d even been to pick grapes in their vineyard every year. He also explained more about he Heuriger culture and how the real ones only opened 2-4 weeks at a time then have to close to prepare everything to open again because it’s not a real restaurant, just a family run vineyard that sometimes serves food. The pine bough out front tells you which Heuriger is open and there’s a special Heuriger calendar in which the owners coordinate who will be open when. Also, popular “decoration” at a Heuriger is a little grape vine umbrella, like this: 

Professor Stipsits told us the oldest “structure��� like this in the area was in the back so I went to snap a picture of it. Here you go:

It was a very educational evening. We drove back to the 1st district of Vienna, arriving around 8:30 at night. Olivia and I found our way home and then collapsed into bed with tired legs, full bellies, and lots of photos.