Title : Who's Going To Save Me?
Series : Adventure Time
Characters : Marceline, Ice King
Description : A drunken Ice King makes an impromptu visit to Marceline's house one night.
Authors Note : When I write Adventure Time, I focus on a darker side, especially when it comes to Marceline. Keep that in mind before reading. It may not be to your tastes.
A wild crash startled Marceline out of her musical haze, fingertips slowing their strum against her guitar. It came from outside her front window, and when she gazed at the dark glass, a black shadow seemed to move around infront of it, followed by continued bumps and grumbles in a low, cranky voice. The high pitch of it was familiar, but it sounded...different. Ice King?
"Uh...Hello?" Marceline quirked an eyebrow, curiously staring at the window, though making no move to get up from her place on her couch. There wasn't much that posed as a threat to her nowadays. Plus, if it was the Ice King, she didn't have much to worry about. Right? That old codger probably just got lost again...
"Grr...who left this blasted wood in my way? Gunther, did you lock me out again? Why is it so goddamn dark?!" Ice King's voice shouted from outside, bringing Marceline sitting upright in surprise. Ice King was swearing? And why did he sound so angry?
The front door to Marceline's house flew open with a loud crash as Ice King tumbled in, wood and ice splintering in his hands. He...broke down her door?
"What the heck man! You broke my door!" Marceline gasped, setting her guitar aside when she realized Ice King was definitely not in his right mind. Not that he ever was in the first place. The old blue-skinned man grumbled again and pushed himself up off of the floor, pushing aside that massive mane of frosty white hair and squinting up at Marceline. She stared in wonder, taking in the man's reddened face, the bleary look in his eyes and blinking in surprise when he hiccuped once, then twice.
"Are you...drunk?" Marceline sounded disgusted, cringing when Ice King finally pushed himself up to his feet and wobbled to the side, stumbling into her end table. This was too weird. She'd seen her fair share of drunk, but the Ice King?
"Heeyy, there you are, my little icicle." He slurred, reaching a blind hand out for Marceline and falling way too short, the momentum of his swing causing him to fall flat on his face beside her couch. Hesitant, Marceline just stared as Ice King cursed and fumbled to get himself upright again. "I missed you!" He finally confessed with a big smile, creeping her right the hell out.
"Did you...?" She murmured, unsure. "Maybe you should just go home, yeah? You don't look so good." She was starting to get worried. My little icicle?
"Oh, but you look very, very good, my princess. Or should I say, queen?" Ice King snickered, patting blindly at the arm of Marceline's couch before tossing himself onto it with a triumphant sigh. Marceline just sat there on the opposite end, a worried wrinkle forming between her brows.
"Are you sure you're alright?" She frowned. After a short breather, having taken up enough energy to reach the couch, Ice King finally turned his drunken smile onto Marceline, who cringed away from the sight.
"Never better! I was just out with Gunther. Partying it uuuppp!" He did a little jig in his seat, before instantly changing his expression to one of forced sorrow, "But then I started to get lonely!" Worrying Marceline even more, Ice King began scooting himself across the length of her couch to get closer to her, even as she leaned back as far as she could to escape the chill of his nearness. "And I thought I'd come hang out with fellow royalty! You like parties, dontcha Marceline? We could party together!" He hiccuped, laughing joyfully as he reached for the vampire.
"Grod, man, get ahold of yourself! You're wasted!" Marceline hissed, batting his hand aside before he could grab her. Ice King blinked, stunned as his arm fell limply into his lap. Instantly Marceline softened. "Oh, ah...sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I?" He didn't deserve her scorn. Even if he was a poor drunken sap that needed desperately to go home. But instead of a look of hurt, Ice King quickly grinned again, a dark emotion crossing his old blue features that had Marceline rearing back to escape another swipe, too late.
"Oho, you like it rough, huh? I knew you would, Marceline. You are a freeaaak~!" He sang, snatching a hand out to grab her wrist when she'd tried to reach for him out of worry. His grip surprisingly strong, Marceline tried to yank her limb back, her other hand reaching up to dislodge him. But he simply grabbed that one too, pressing his entire body closer until she was chilled to the bones by the immense cold that lifted from him. But worse than that, Marceline found her mouth caught up against the incredible chill of the Ice King's, as he forced a drunken kiss on her. Startled, Marceline shoved her body against him in just the right way to get him to back off, even if his hands still held her captive. Gasping, she shook her head and tried to breath out the heavy stench of alcohol that he'd forced into her mouth. He reeked!
"What the hell, man! Let go already!" She fought against the old man's grip, turning her face away before he could force another kiss on her. But he was relentless, and growing more intent the more she struggled.
"Oh, you don't have to be so shy, Marceline. I know you don't hate me like the other girls do. And you may not be a princess, but I can accept that! Maybe a queen is what I really need!" He chuckled lowly, continuing his attempts to wrestle Marceline into kissing distance. Fear and unease tugged at Marceline. This was...wrong. Sure, Ice King sometimes came to bother her, but he'd always been so innocent before. Wanting tips on music. Or needing a cup of sugar, strange as it was. But this... this was different.
"Will you just...go home? Go home, Simon!" Marceline shouted, forcing her arms to resist his push and pull, keeping his mouth at bay until he'd collapsed ontop of her. Fear boiled anew, causing her to lose all strength in her muscles. Memories clawed at her like fingernails around her throat, choking off her air and keeping her from moving. Darkness. Pain. Betrayal. The feeling of having her very sanity snatched to bits, and slowly put back together again. Making her wrong. Broken. Tears sprang up in Marceline's eyes out of nowhere, something the Ice King finally noticed. His vacant eyes blinked once, and he tilted his head, his foul-smelling beard falling just beneath Marceline's chin.
"Hey, whoa now, girl. Why are you crying?" He still sounded out of it, but a sliver of concern had made its way into his tone. Marceline shuddered, still frozen with terror at her own memories that threatened to overtake her again. No, not again. I'm sorry. I'll be good, I promise. Please, not again.
"You're...hurting me, Simon." She finally managed to choke out, frail wrists trembling in his grip. At the soft, broken tone, Ice King finally released her wrists. She curled in on herself, as a heavy wave of worry soon flooded over her.
"I... Marceline?" The hazey, drunken tone was utterly gone, replaced with a soft lull of the Ice King's voice. Simon's voice. "Marceline, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" He sounded as terrified as she did, only increasing that blankened misery wrapping around her soul. "Are you okay, honey? God, why do I stink so much?" He murmured softly, lifting himself off of her and sitting upright, sniffing at his beard and smelling his breath. Marceline continued to cower, thin arms and legs tucked in against herself as if to protect her from the chill of fear. Ice King noticed, and even in her state she could see the worry and fear in his eyes. For what he might've said. Or done.
"Marcie?" He offered, a hand reaching out to the huddled form beside him. When her entire body jolted in terror, a soft whimper of dread in her throat, she watched him snatch his hand away as if it burned. Fearing the worst, he drew back in on himself and hunched over his knees, hands dragging over the baldness of his scalp, the crown having fallen off at some point. She watched as he wallowed, her own sadness softening underneath her urge to nurture the broken soul next to her. He hadn't been himself. But now, a bit of his humanity, his real self, had returned. The part of him that knew Marceline as a little lost girl, that sought to help keep her safe from the world and from her father. The part of him that had needed protection just as much as she had...
Eventually Marceline had sat up again, the worst of her fear shaken off. But when she reached out to rest a hand on the Ice King's shoulder, he tried to jerk out from under her care, a heavy sniffle coming from under his messy hair. If she listened close enough, she could hear him mumbling to himself. Something she could barely make out, "...sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
Her heart broke.
"S...Simon? Hey...It's okay." She tried again, gently shaking his shoulder to get him to stop that heartfelt sobbing. "You didn't hurt me, you just startled me. Really." She insisted, watching as the man snatched his head up to look at her, his eyes so full of hope that it was almost painful.
"Really? I didn't hurt you? Honest?" He was practically begging. Needing to know that he hadn't hurt her on purpose more than he needed to breathe. Marceline swallowed back the lump in her throat, eyes fresh with tears. She nodded quickly, chest aching.
"Honest."
Ice King's relief was palpable. A sigh ran shudders through his entire form, and all together he seemed to get older, weaker. Exhausted.
"Thank goodness..." He whispered, as if a prayer. They stayed like that for a while. Two broken people, crying over an all too familiar incident. Ice King tried to keep his distance, she knew. But fate would always have him forgetting and coming back, pulled by his desire to be by Marceline's side, even as the effects of his magic ate away at his humanity. And it always ended up like this. Both worn out and emotionally wrecked. The stench of self-loathing eminating from both of them. From Ice King, for his inability to protect Marceline from himself. And from Marceline, for her inability to protect him. They were both a couple of fools. But they were fools together.
"Does your head hurt? You can stay the night, if you want. Fly back home when you're feeling better?" Marceline's voice was soft, tired. Ice King didn't move, heaving another painful sigh before nodding slowly.
"Sure..." He murmured. Marceline nodded a little and stood, going to her nearest closet and getting out a blanket and a pillow for him, her movements slow and memorized. Forgetting the number of times she had to tuck the old king in, on her own couch. When she returned to him, he'd already fallen onto his side, his empty gaze staring straight forward, on the ground where his crown had fallen. He didn't like to be away from it, she knew. So when she neared she lifted the golden thing up and set it onto her end table, where his eyes had followed as if mesmerized. A pang of worry gripped at her heart, but when Ice King's tired, miserable eyes flicked to her instead, she tried to smile. Gently wedging a pillow underneath his head before fitting the warm, heavy blanket over him. He watched her quietly, and when she was finished she paused to look down at him as well.
"Well...Goodn-"
"I'm sorry, Marceline." He murmured. She blinked rapidly, trying another weak smile.
"Hey...No worries. I already told you nothing hap-."
"I...promised I'd never hurt you, remember?" His quiet question surprised her. Tears threatened to flow again, and she looked away.
"You didn't." She tried to sound stern to assure him, but her voice broke. Ice King's brow furrowed, as if he didn't understand. She was worried until his brow softened again, and he closed his eyes.
"I hope you're right..." He grumbled, still sounding worried. Worried for her sake.
"I am. Now go to sleep, alright? You're such a pain," She tried for humor, but it fell flat between them both. A moment of silence, and she thought he'd fallen asleep. Until his soft, curious voice came again.
"Where's that doll I gave you? The pink one..." His brow furrowed as he tried to recall what it looked like behind his closed eyes. "You always have that thing with you, but I didn't see it." He sounded confused, but was far too tired to reopen his eyes. Marceline frowned, another ache in her chest.
"I ah...must have lost it. I'm sorry." She murmured softly, not wanting him to know what really happened to her prized possession. Ice King didn't seem to notice her dodging, too content underneath her blanket.
"That's alright, honey. I'll just get you another one. Maybe a blue one this time..." He started to trail off, a mere whisper that she almost hadn't heard. Heartsick and exhausted, Marceline sighed and tucked the blanket underneath his chin, watching the old man settle in comfortably. Sleep effortlessly claiming him moments later.
She watched him like that for a while, seeing his features soften and look almost harmless as he slept. Though his hair was longer and whiter, and his skin was colder and more blue, he was still Simon. She couldn't hate him for all that he did. He was far too important to her for that. Sometimes we can't help but hurt the ones we love, he'd said once. She'd long since understood the truth behind his words. And she accepted them. Accepted him. He had been there to protect her when she was broken. And now she'd do the same for him.
She'd always be there. To be the one to save him, when no one else could.