Cold white tiles bit into her knees. Her bare toes wiggled, beginning to lose their sense of feeling.
The length of leather and rope tightened around her neck; she tensed as an automatic reaction, feeling the coarse knots around her neck rub and twist and burn as she shook her head. Simone responded by winding the leash around her hand until the line was taut, her forearm shaking with the exertion of keeping Fionna in check.
Bright blue eyes glared up at her, trying to work her hands free from their bonds. If looks could kill, then the Ice Queen would certainly be a melting pile of goo on the bathroom floor by now.
"Now, now, dear," she said, the corners of her solid white eyes crinkling with amusement, lips curling back in a feral smile. "You were the one who wanted to play rough. I'm trying to be nice."
Reaching behind her with her free hand, she pulled a lever. Hot water started splashing into the tub.
Fionna's pulse quickened, but she didn't say anything. She couldn't- a silk cloth was tied around her mouth. It smelled like a deep, heavy perfume- the kind older women wear, having evolved past the flirty splashes of color that girls douse themselves in. When she sighed in frustration, the resulting deep inhale carried that scent back to her, sending triggers straight to her brain of all the things she was trying to deny she was thinking about.
Like the fact that she even recognized the Ice Queen's scent in the first place.
(It was strangely relaxing.)
Fingers, freezing cold and strong as steel, slipped under her hat. Nails scraped at her scalp, pushing back the white fabric until it slid off her head onto the floor. "What happened to your head?" she asked. Half amused. Half disgruntled.
If she was expecting a coherent answer she'd have to remove the gag first. "Lice," Fionna tried to say anyway, the memory alone causing her sheared scalp to itch again. Shaving it all off had seemed like a good idea at the time. Cake, however, insisted on using all kinds of horrible chemicals on the human and the tree house until she deemed the 'infestation' to be over.
Loosening the leash some, Simone knelt down at Fionna's level, gleefully running a hand through her fuzz and satisfying some of the itch, thank glob. Even if her freezing touch made Fionna shiver and Goosebumps rise on her flesh. Simone let loose something that might be called a giggle. "Soft," she said, her claws scritcha scritching at just the right spot. "I suppose it's fine no matter what length it is. Though you do realize just about the only feminine thing about you remaining is that skirt."
A lot of things were wrong about this scenario. In Fionna's mind, the wrongest of wrongs was that she was unable to snap back to that comment with even one smart-ass remark. So she tilted her head back and then lashed it forward, head butting the Ice Queen as hard as she could.
At least, that was the plan. Simone jerked back just in time, tightening her hold on the leash again so all Fionna did was get a big face full of boob and a cold hand running along her spine—
skkkkkkrrrrrttt
Nails sharp as talons tore a line straight down the back of her shirt. A quick tug and a pull took care of the rest. Fionna kicked her legs- more like wiggled them, actually, since they were bound at the ankles. "Fffffffffffff—"
The tub was full. "This is so stupid," she garbled, twisting her mouth around to try and speak through the gag. Finally, she managed to spit it out. "You are not giving me a bath!" she shouted, protesting and bucking against attempts to remove the rest of her clothing. "I don't need a bath!"
"Says the scruffy, stinky ne'er do well I found skulking around my castle," the Ice Queen said, slicing one wicked fingernail along the crease where Fionna's leg met her torso. The cloth seemed to ripple and fall off with a sigh- how sharp did this woman keep those damn talons?
Turning red as a cherry tomato, Fionna clenched her eyes shut. She was naked in front of the Ice Queen. Naked. And about to get dunked into a bucket full of what was probably ice cold water. "Most villains? They kill the hero when they find them on a recon mission. They don't give them a ba—AAATH NONONONO—"
Blue arms scooped her up and chucked her without ritual into the bathtub. Surfacing with a gasp and blinking the water out of her eyes, Fionna's voice cracked with a shrill shriek. "Idiot manipulative fat-butt witch, I'll—" A slurping noise. Careful not to scratch too vigorously with her nails, the Ice Queen started scrubbing the shampoo into Fionna's spiky blond fuzz. "ARGGHHH DON'T GET IT IN MY EYEEEEESSSS." Clenching her eyelids shut, she started rocking from side to side, her shoulders tensed up so that they almost touched her ears.
Simone upended a small bucket of warm water over her head. "I won't get it in your eyes," she promised. "Just stop flailing-" she tied the leash down to something Fionna couldn't see, limiting her movements. "You're getting water all over me. Looks like I was right to change into something more suited to this work." Rolling up the sleeves of her white button-up shirt, the queen reached for another bottle and lathered up her hands. "How's the water, dear?"
"Scalding." A pause. "You freak."
(At least it's not cold.)
"Perfect." Chilled flesh kneaded and stroked her neck, the soap aggravating her rope burns and sending sparks of pain down her spine. She hissed when cold fingertips tended to her wrists, bound behind her back, and then squeaked when they reached around to slickly brush over her breasts. Paying perhaps just a bit too much attention to that area, the queen laughed as Fionna's pink skin grew flushed with blood. It was too strong of a reaction to solely be attributed to the water temperature.
Like a wave crashing against the shore, her pulse pounded and roared, deafening out all other thoughts. All her weight seemed centered in the pit of her belly, writhing indecently. Too quiet. She was too quiet. She should definitely say this wasn't cool. Yes she should say something as soon as her brain stopped doing the conga. When she finally caught her breath, Fionna made sure not a single syllable was stammered. "Oh, so you're a perv on top of already being an incompetent evil overlord. Totally brills, Simone." She drawled out the woman's real name with as much venom as possible, hoping for some sort of reaction beyond an amused chuckle.
The steaming hot water contrasted in terrible ways with the pervasive chill that always surrounded the ice queen. Fionna's blood had definitely turned into syrup, too thick to pass through her arteries unless her heart picked up the pace.
"I don't know what you're talking about," the queen hummed happily. "I'm just giving you a bath. You're the one whose mind is going to naughty places." Submerged in hot water, her hands actually felt… good on Fionna's skin. True to her word, though, she didn't linger on any parts of the girl's body any more than she already had, giving her a good and thorough scrub down until the water was murky and the heroine was clean as could be.
Swallowing nervously, Fionna tried to sink deeper into the water to hide herself. "Are you done yet?" she asked, shifting her bound hands behind her back, not giving up on the idea of breaking free yet. Where she would go while sopping wet and butt naked was another story. Gasping again, she tried not to shy away from the hand on her shoulder, or the other one brushing against her belly with fingers outstretched.
The water temperature was dropping.
Almost causing Fionna to scream, Simone planted a single chaste kiss on the top of her head. Fresh goose bumps erupted in a straight path down from the kiss, reaching to each of her extremities. "Unless you want me to make your body betray you a little longer, no, I think we're done."
"ThenI'dliketogetoutnowplease."
"You even said please," the Ice Queen said, one hand over her heart. "I am just pickled tink."
"It's tickled— whatever, you're blue." Fionna kicked with both of her legs, splashing water out the side of the tub.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
Splush, wush, splash. Tiny tsunamis rocked the bathtub. "Sweet poncy grief just lemme out of here!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Her leash was loosened; she felt the cord go slack. Clenching her teeth until she grinned, she refused to shriek again when the Ice Queen reached down and picked her up out of the water bridal style, exposing her to the frigid air of her kingdom. Shivering helplessly, she didn't even care that it was her enemy wrapping her up in a fluffy blue robe, toweling her hair dry, or setting her down further in the living quarters where Gunter had set up a chair and table.
Two steaming mugs rested on top. Fionna also didn't care that she normally took her coffee with lots of sugar and cream, not black as night, but she was willing to give anything a shot as long as it heated her up a little.
"And here you go." With one nick of her nails, the Ice Queen freed the bonds holding Fionna's hands behind her back. Liberation! Groaning with relief, Fionna stretched her arms forward, rubbing at her shoulder and chest muscles. "I'm nothing if not a woman of my word."
"You lie all the time," Fionna pointed out, scowling at her as she bent over to yank at the ropes around her ankles. The collar and leash were next, thrown aside with contempt. "So now that your sick little game is over, give me my hat back so I can go home." Grabbing the cup closest to her, she paused just before it reached her lips, noticing that the queen was staring at her too intently again. Putting two and two together, she set it down and grabbed the other cup, downing that one instead. She hoped she was just being paranoid, but, well, it was the Ice Queen. It never hurt to be too paranoid.
With a grin so wide it could make a shark burn with envy, the Ice Queen took Fionna's rejected cup, making sure to let the girl see her take a long, loud, slurping sip of it, punctuated with a contented sigh. It was hard not to notice how her lips curled over the rim, red tongue darting out once to- no. No. Bad Fionna. The only reason she was watching the Ice Queen drink was to make sure nothing awful had been slipped into that coffee.
Still convinced she made the right decision, Fionna downed hers in one gulp, needing the boost and knowing Ice Queen wouldn't be satisfied until she did so. "Okay, thanks for the ritualistic cleansing and sharing of hot beverages, I'm going to leave now'n junk." As soon as she found her sneakers. And her backpack. And her hat.
"Feel free to swing by any time, Fionna, dear," the Ice Queen said, smiling around the rim of her mug, other arm crossed around her middle as she leaned against the table. Solid white eyes unreadable, like an endless expanse of untouched snow.
Shaking her head to clear it from any more dumb poetry, Fionna fiddled with her coffee mug. "Why? So you can have an excuse to feel me up again?"
"Maybe." She took another sip, a less obnoxious one. "You didn't seem to terribly upset by the touching as you were by the water."
Standing up, still clutching to the mug for the residual heat it gave off, Fionna stomped one foot. "Hey now, don't get any ideas. Water is definitely not my weakness or my phobia or anything debilitating like that."
"Oh, of course," she agreed, amicable enough. She drained the coffee til it was almost all gone, offering the last of it to Fionna with a, "Here, want the last sip before you go?"
Never one to pass up a free anything (and now that she was reasonably sure it wasn't drugged), Fionna reached for the cup only to have Simone yank it back again with a decidedly evil smirk, tilting her head back and pouring the rest into her mouth.
"Wow," Fionna said, letting her hands drop to her sides. "Real dick move you pulled there Simo—"
Before she can drop the S word, the Ice Queen wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her in closer and planting her lips firmly on Fionna's. White noise filled her brain, static buzzing at full volume. The coffee mug dropped and shattered to the floor. Her hands pulled at the collar of the queen's shirt, gripping on for dear life. She felt a tongue flicking out, the coffee filling her mouth. She couldn't swallow all of it; a single drop trickled down her chin. Simone licked it clean. Both of her hands were on Fionna now, skimming across her whole frame. Nails found their way to the back of her head again, scritch scritch scritching and making Fionna's toes curl.
"You should let your hair grow back so I can pull on it," she noted idly, scrrrrrraping her nails just along the shell of Fionna's ear until she was trembling with want.
She wants to shoot something back at her, about how her hair was none of the Ice Queen's business or why would she give up such an obvious advantage, but all she can do is force Simone against the table, almost bending her backwards across it. Letting her know that if this was going to happen, it was going to happen her way, damn it.
The kiss was all teeth. Liquid heat coursed through her body, pooling between her thighs. Her hand clutching at Fionna's like a cold bite, thumb nail digging into the center of her palm until she bled, the heat dripping down her wrist. Each touch ached, ice and fire doing battle on her skin. She wondered if felt the same for Simone, if she was burning her.
But something was wrong.
Stumbling back, Fionna groggily searched for the chair, collapsing into it with her face resting in her hands. "I feel weird," she said, and it had surprisingly little to do with the fact that she desperately wanted to tear off the clothes of her most bitter rival. Said rival was draping herself over Fionna, one hand stroking her fuzzy hair.
"Oh," the woman said, "That would be the rohypnol."
Fionna stared at her, wincing at the hand traveling along her outer thigh. "…You… you…"
Kissing her on the cheek, the Ice Queen laughed again. "Both cups were drugged," she said, slipping her hand past Fionna's robe, pushing it back to deliver another kiss on her shoulder. It was light as the first snowfall of winter, and it burned with a cold fire. Fionna hissed at the pain of it. "I'm just immune to it."
Shoving her off, Fionna got to her feet only to wobble onto the floor, her knees seemingly disintegrated into marshmallow. "You… I can't believe you… and I fell for it again!" Tears trickled down her cheeks, where they quickly formed into ice.
"Aww," the Ice Queen said, nudging her with her foot until she was lying on her back, keeping her pinned there with only minimum force. "Poor Fionna. So desperate for a bit of lovin'. All you gotta do is bathe her…" her heel moved over to Fionna's throat, applying slow pressure. "Sing her a little song…" she pushed down harder, feeling nails scrabble at her boot. "Give her a bouquet with swords in it and bam. She's a pile of goo at your feet."
Laughing again, she let the girl breathe only to kick her viciously in the ribs, causing her to curl up and gasp. "What can I say dear— you're an easy mark. Gunter!" she shouted, louder now. "I don't want her pulling her usual heroics, but I do hate the idea of killing her. After my plans for tonight are in motion, take this precious thing home. Fortunately for Cake, her stray here had a collar."
Getting down on all fours, she hovered over Fionna, shaking with barely suppressed laughter. The last thing the girl felt was that length of rope wrapping around her neck again. "Tell Cake to keep better track of her pets," Simone whispered into her ear. "The next time you follow me home, I might not give you back."
Fionna was a fighter- always was, always would be- and she fought unconsciousness with every fiber of her being. But even she couldn't battle against her own body. Her eyes rolled back, and she let the darkness claim her.