"Bonnie."

Bubblegum lets a brow's quirk regard whoever was calling her. The voice is smooth, exceptionally melodious—it is a singer's voice, even—and she only knows one person in all of Ooo who has that kind of voice. The princess' own voice is admired for its firmness and strong manner, but she would very much like to have a voice like—

"Bonnie." Marceline calls out again, her voice rising in gentle urgency. Bubblegum still remains hunched over her bureau without much of a reaction other than quirking her brows. Parchments—parchments and quills everywhere. The Duke of Nuts got into a rather nasty bicker with the Lady of Taffy, and that won't exactly fare well for the princess. If this doesn't get resolved, pretty soon all other lower monarchs would think they can start anything whenever they want with her around—

"BONNIE."

"Yes, Marceline?" Bubblegum finally detaches her elbows from atop her bureau and spins on her seat to face the door, mauve-stained fingers flying to her knees to grip them and stain the hems of her skirt there. Her gaze is firm, but softens quickly upon the sight of the two tiny heads of pink and black pressed against the vampire's breasts. "Oh—oh dear! Why—?" The rest of her panicked sentence is lost when she jolts immediately upright to rush to the vampire and gently take one of the children in her arms, the one with the black hair. She moves a pink hand to brush against a tiny, pale cheek, cooing the wailing child into giggling submission.

"Wh—where's Peppermint Butler? Isn't he supposed to be—"

"I let him take a break," Marceline grunts as she wiggles the pink-haired child in her arms. The child reacts rather violently—she flails a tiny arm around and catches one of the vampire's cheeks in a deathly grip that brings tears to her yellow eyes. "The dude's all covered in bite marks and slobber. Geez, not too touchy feely, baby."

Bubblegum follows the vampire's example—she grunts as well. "Oh, how can two children be such handfuls?"

They are twins, the queen and princess' children. Conceived with the help Bubblegum's never-failing pride—science. What began as a half-serious experiment into fertility potions ended up as nine grueling months of child-bearing, hours of child-birth, and two beautiful children that have the tendency to ruin and modify both the monarchs' schedules.

The older child bears striking resemblance to Marceline with the exception of her pink skin and even pinker hair. Her hair though, on that note, is long, wild and tangles most of the time no matter how much both mothers comb it in place. Her eyes, like big cuts of polished mica, are a strong purple under the castle's fluorescence. She is loud, fiercely energetic, and rather violent at that, and the butlers tend to steer clear of this one when the period for playtime comes.

The other child is considerably quieter and gentler than her predecessor. This, however, does not save her from the occasional spasms of childish mischief that her older sister tends to be the leader of. Her straight, dark hair frames her tiny pale face that houses beautifully iridescent eyes that show a more particular color of gold under the right light. Like her candy mother, she shares a passion for books and loves listening to fairytales and other stories before bed.

"Bonnie, she's got my nose."

"Marceline, just take it off then—"

"Bonnie she's got my nose."

"Oh, glob." Her voice is exasperated. The princess wraps her ink-stained fingers around the pink child's hand—that has Marceline's nose in a vice-like grip—and pulls with mild difficulty, for the young one shows promising potential of being as strong as her older mother.

"You can take a few minutes off, right?" Marceline asks, sparing Bubblegum a small, hopeful smile.

Bubblegum looks to her bureau of parchments. She chews the inside of her cheeks, quietly pondering, weighing advantages and disadvantages, and then a mingling of two giggles catches her off-guard. She turns her head and settles her eyes on the twins, who have engaged in a game of footsy and were kicking each other silly. Tiny fangs peeked from underneath both the children's lips and this makes the princess smile at the slightest.

She can always take a few minutes off for her girls.

/

"They're asleep, right?"

Bubblegum stifles a yawn to answer her better half with an exhausted whisper. "Peppermint has put them to bed, I think."

"That's a relief."

"They're a tiring bunch, aren't they?" The princess sleepily mumbles as she buries herself into Marceline's arms when she wraps her long, pale arms around her. She feels the vampire nuzzle the top of her head.

"If they were made of candy, I think I would've eaten them already and solved both our problems."

Bubblegum chortles. "I suppose you have your dominant genes to hate for that."

Marceline responds with an equally-mirthful laugh. "Even genetically, I am awesome-er than you, Bonnie."

"Quiet you."

A delicate silence lingers around them. Bubblegum blinks, yawns once again, and then closes her eyes, when Marceline suddenly says something that lessens her exhaustion a fraction.

"But they're both pretty cute, aren't they?"

"Yes, especially after taking into consideration how they're like physically-swapped versions of us."

"Yeah, and the way they mope around and practically ignore you for like, forever when you scold them about something. That is so you, Bonnie."

"Oh. And I suppose the violent reactions to an empty refrigerator is not you, Marceline?"

"It's not my fault your butlers forget how exceptionally vicious their appetites are—I mean come on, they're growing little girls!"

The couple share a long, loud laughter.

Bubblegum raises her face to Marceline to find the vampire staring at her in this familiar way that never fails to make the butterflies in her stomach come alive. She shifts uncomfortably—shyly—in Marceline's arms and tips her head to the side a little to hide half of her face into the pillow. She smiles.

"You... Wanna do it?"

It's been an obscenely long amount of time since the last time the couple actually has a time like this together. Most days compose of busy schedules and-or babysitting, just as most nights are just long, tired, dreamless sleeps. Now seems like a good time—and Marceline seems to agree.

They kiss first—a long, lingering kiss that stops time for the both of them all at once. And then Marceline puts her speed and strength to use by quickly rolling them over in one pounce. She fills her princess' skin with butterfly kiss, making the areas where her lips touch come alive in a dark, pink flush, and then uses slow hands to peel away the strapless nightgown the pink girl has chosen to wear tonight, quite purposefully if the vampire thinks about it. Stiff nipples make her yellow eyes crinkle in a wide smile, and she hunches over the princess, daringly, mouth open, and—

"Agooo~"

"Ngiikyaaa~"

Bubblegum stiffens. Marceline readily imitates her.

The sheets draped over them wriggles and jerks, and from underneath pops out tiny heads of contrasting pink and black. Giggles fill the room almost immediately.

"...Bonnie, she's got my nose."

"...I can see that, Marceline."