"Well, this was a bust!" Ice King had been certain the weekly Candy Kingdom flea market would be a great place to pick up princesses. Bubblegum was always browsing for new sciency stuff, and there were usually two or three other princesses walking among the rows of old furniture and do-dads. Ice King had spoken to, and struck out with, every princess at the market. "C'mon, Gunter. We're going home," he said as he scooped up the penguin.
He was about to fly away when something at a nearby stall caught his eye. Ice King landed and approached the small table, much to the displeasure of the candy person behind it. The table was covered in shiny antique jewelry and brightly colored fabrics, but it was something dull and grey that had attracted the wizard's attention.
"What's this," he mumbled, picking up the worn-out object. "Kinda gross-lookin'." He studied it for a few seconds, then turned to the candy shopkeeper. "Hey, how much for the gross-lookin' thing?"
"T-t-ten bucks." The candy person running the store was shaking badly. The Ice King may not have done any harm recently, but that didn't mean he wasn't still scary to be around.
"Ten dollars?! What a ripoff! The thing's falling apart for Glob's sake. How about five?"
"Fine, just please leave," the shopkeeper shouted, eager to be rid of the frozen menace across the table. Ice king slapped the cash down on the table, picked up his prize, and flew off. The shopkeeper sighed in relief, and slumped down onto the ground. Dealing with that icy weirdo was exhausting.
Marceline had been spending her afternoon songwriting, and almost didn't hear the knock at the door over the sound of her bass. Setting down her axe-bass, she floated to the door. "Hey, Simon," she said as she let her old friend inside. "You know the jam session isn't til tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah," the old man shrugged, "but I found something at the flea market, and I thought you might want it." Marceline eyed Simon curiously as he fished around in the folds of his robe, muttering to himself. "Aha! There it is!"
In his hands was a small, faded toy. A stuffed animal, one button eye missing, several clumsily-sewn patches, ratty and threadbare, it was the most wonderful thing the Vampire Queen had seen in centuries. "Hambo...," she whispered. Tears began to form in her eyes as she, ever so gently, took it from Simon's arms.
"I dunno why, but I thought you might like it," Ice King continued, grin plastered on his face, oblivious to Marcie's reaction. "Weird, right?"
"Thank you." Marceline wrapped her arms around the man that was once a father to her and hugged him tight. "Thank you, Simon. I love it."