'... So then I was like " Gross man, you got purple slobber all over my bunny hat" and he was like " Oh yeah, what you gonna do about it?-' Fionna chortled excitedly as she and Cake walked across the grasslands back towards the tree house. Fionna had her arms hooked around the back legs of a chimera and was dragging it like a backpack, while Cake walked behind her supporting the lion head. Cake wasn't really paying attention to Fionna's enthusiastic play-by-play as the Lion's head, with all that fur, was rather heavy. Not to mention the cut in the goat's throat was dripping down onto her back.
' ... And then he was like " Oh No, my blood!" and it was like 'FFFFSSSHHHH pffff thbbbthhh... plip plip' and he was like "Ugh.' Fionna ended by drawing her thumb across her throat with some difficulty, and giggled to herself.
' Yeah, I know honey. I was there.' Cake sighed, hefting the head back up onto her shoulder.
' You okay, Cake?' Fionna asked, detecting a note of fatigue in the cat's voice.
' Yeah, just a little tired and lovesick, bub. Mochro's been gone with Gumball for three weeks now, I miss my man.' Cake sighed morosely. Fionna nodded sympathetically.
' Well cheer up, doggy pup- Or kitten, rather. We'll give Peppy a call when we get back and see when they're due home, okay?' Cake brightened considerably at this suggestion, and beamed at Fionna.
' That sounds wonderful sugar. Thanks.' Fionna smiled to herself and cheerfully strolled onwards through the ambient twilight. The sky on the horizon was coloured with two fat streaks of burnt orange and purple, fading into deep indigo dotted with millions of tiny stars, like dust motes on a dark blue sheet. Summer time didn't have the most spectacular sunsets, but they were still pretty incredible.

When they got back to the treehouse, Cake dropped the head and ran around to Fionna. They each took a leg and with some small amount of effort, both dragged it into the rocky cave beneath the roots.
' Phew! Hey Cake, can we eat chimeras?' Fionna asked, wiping her dusty, sweaty fringe back off her forehead then pulling a face at the resulting grime on her hand. Cake poked the chimera's backside and her upper lip curled in distaste.
' I don't know baby, and I'm not sure I wanna find out. That thing smells nasty.' Fionna looked at the carcass then surreptitiously sniffed her armpit. Ew.
' Um yeah. That might just be me.' Cake grimaced and threw a nearby bag of bread at Fionna.
' Gross, babydoll. Shower, now. Before dinner.' Fionna groaned, though she didn't really mind, and obligingly left the cave and went inside. Cake followed at a safe distance, a stretched gas mask covering her face.

' Don't you dare give me lip
You see this sword hanging off my hip?
You better watch that pretty mouth, boy
Or I'll tear you up like a soft toy

I got a chimera beneath my home
It's become his trash-filled tome
he thought he could talk smart to me
But now he's dead, better watch it, baby!'

Fionna giggled to herself, pleased with her improvised song as she left the bathroom. She would have to write it down. As she toweled off her hair, she glanced around for Cake but couldn't seem to spot the calico cat anywhere.
'Cake? Where you at, sis?' Fionna called walking in to the kitchen to grab the milk out of the fridge. Just as she was about to drink from the carton, she noticed a note sitting on the kitchen bench. Leaving the fridge open she walked over and picked it up. Cake's writing was even more illegible than usual, a hurried scrawl.

Babycakes, Gumball called while you were in the shower. He and chrome are back in town! So I've gone to go catch up and spend some time with my mustang. I'll be back later tonight, there's leftovers in the freezer.
Cake

Fionna laughed quietly to herself. That was so Cake. Running off into her boyfriend's arms as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
Fionna took a long drink of milk from the carton then put it back in the fridge. As she shut the door and threw her towel into the laundry corner, she mused on what she would do tonight without her best friend to keep her company.
' What to do, what to do..' She mused out loud to herself, grabbing her hat off the bench where she had left it and starting to tuck her hair back up into it.
' Let your hair down, Blondie. you look hot like that.'

Fionna jumped and looked around, but the owner of the voice was invisible. How unusual. Not.
' Marshall-lee, where the plonk are you?' A low (Sexy. Ugh, no! that's not.. Damn.) easy laughter filled the air around her, echoing supernaturally. Fionna spun around looking for him, then yelped and grabbed the bench in surprise when she turned towards the fridge and found the vampire floating directly in front of her. Marshall-lee laughed at her expression, watching her hair sway softly as it fell down around her waist (The hand with which she had grabbed the bench happened to be the hand holding her hat.)
' See? When it's not all roped up and hidden away, you look good.' Fionna glared at him and ducked beneath his tummy, pointedly stuffing her hair up into her bunny hat.
' Thanks for knocking, Marshall. Really appreciate it.' Marshall-lee laughed at her again, and Fionna turned away from his eyes uncomfortably. He was looking at her like she was a particularly decadent piece of red velvet cake. It made her feel nervous, because technically she- well, her species- was a part of his diet.

' Careful, your sass is showing Fifi. Nice song, by the way. Who's the guy with a pretty mouth they need to watch?' Fionna wrinkled her nose at him, finishing with her hat and plopping on to the sofa. You.
' Wouldn't you like to know.' She retorted cheekily and Marshall-lee shrugged, but Fionna could tell he was only pretending not to care. He was easy for her to read now, she had hung out with him so much. Theirs was the kind of friendship where sometimes words weren't required, because they knew what the other one was thinking in any case. But he was still incredible cryptic. A riddle, and he knew it. Maybe the mystery (another kind of adventure) is what made him so fascinating to her.

'Anyways, what're you doing here, Flyboy?' Marshall-lee shrugged, drifting over to her cupboard.
' Dunno. I'm bored. And it sounds like you are too kid, so how about we entertain each other?' Fionna flushed, disliking his new favourite nickname of kid (She didn't even know why he called her that. It was like some weird inside joke only he understood) then raised an eyebrow at him.
' Entertain each other? That sounds dodge.' Marshall-lee slowly looked over one of his shoulders at Fionna with a small suggestive smirk on his face, which immediately made her feel even more embarrassed. Cut the bull, Marshall. His grin widened when she looked at the ground and he went back to rifling through the pantry.
' Your words, not mi- No way.' Fionna looked up to see him with his whole head and one arm inside the cupboard, reaching all the way back.
' What?'
' I remember these things! Holy crap!' Marshall exclaimed in exhilarated disbelief, finally drawing back out of the cupboard holding a small rectangular red box.

Fionna hopped up off the couch and walked over to him, grabbing for the box when she reached him. Marshall however moved it out of her reach, and started to open it above his head.
' Hey! What's in the box?' Marshall-lee stuck his tongue out at her and smiled, looking down at her as he reached into the packet.
' Candy. Or are they cookies? Both. Double whammy.' Fionna watched with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity as Marshall removed two long thin sticks of what looked like cookie from the box, except they were mostly covered in chocolate. They looked like a sparkler which someone had tapped with a magic wand to turn into a sweet.

' Open your mouth and stop looking at me like that.' Marshall told her as he flipped one of the sticks and caught it between his teeth then presented the other one to Fionna. She rather begrudgingly accepted it with her lips, and bit down.
' Meh. They're not that amazing. Tastes like any other chocolate-covered cookie.' She said, crunching her way through the rest of it within a few seconds. Marshall-lee rolled his eyes at her, his one still caught in his mouth like a cigarette.
' Bunny-blue, what they are isn't the point. It's what you can do with them.' Fionna jumped and managed to snatch the box off of Marshall, taking minor offense to his tone.
' Stop talking like a teacher. And what are they anyway?' She asked, realising that the writing on the box wasn't something she could read.
' They're called pocky. And before you ask, I don't know why. I'm smart, but I'm not an encyclopedia, kid.' Fionna looked in the box and realised there was about thirty more chocolate sticks inside. She didn't even remember buying these but it was candy so bonus.
' Okay.. so what can you do with them?' She asked suspiciously, putting two in her mouth and trying to figure it out. Marshall-lee grinned at her, snapping through the rest of his stick quickly. Fionna knew he couldn't actually 'eat' them per say, but he could still y'know, swallow it. Just wouldn't do anything for him.
' Before I tell you, you have to promise to play it with me. Pinky swear, cross your heart, every other legally binding contract you know.' Fionna eyed him apprehensively and then looked down at the box. It was just cookies. What's the worst that could happen?
' Okay, I promise.'
' You gotta do it properly, Fionna. Pinky swear.' Marshall demanded playfully, holding out a hand. His fingers were covered in asymmetrical calluses from playing the guitar and probably just from life, too. Fionna rolled her eyes.
' Pinky swear, ya preschooler.' she groaned, shaking her head as she interlocked her little finger with his.
' Great.' Marshall smiled briefly, grabbing her hand and tugging her over to the couch.

' Okay, park your butt and I'll explain the rules and aims of the pocky game.' Fionna sat down and waited, handing over the packet when Marshall-lee gestured for it. He took out one stick and pointed it at Fionna like a conductor's wand.
' Okay, so the aim of the game is simple. Be the last one to take a bite/the last one to let go. And you win. Easy as that, kiddo.' Fionna just looked at him.
' Right, and you're not half demon. What's the catch, Fang-face?' Marshall-lee tutted at her.
' You're hanging out with me too much, I told you I'm a bad influence. Don't be so cynical. There's no catch. That's it.' Fionna eyed him disbelievingly.

' Okay, so there's a catch. If you wanna call it that, and I don't think you will.'
' Aha! Going on record as saying I told you so.' Marshall-lee flicked one of her ears, shaking his head.
' Very impressive. You wanna play now?' Fionna looked at him uncomprehendingly as he placed the chocolate covered end of the stick between his teeth. His fangs gleamed in the light of the candles, signalling danger to all but the naive blonde girl who simply eyed him curiously.
' Wait, you didn't tell me the catch.'
' I said it's only a catch if you wanna call it that.' Marshall said, some of the letters slightly warped by the pocky in the way of his tongue. ' Grab the other end, Fionna.' Fionna frowned at him and started to reach up, but Marshall-lee caught her hand and shook his head, smirking indulgently at her.
' With your teeth, idiot.' Fionna blinked for a second, before everything suddenly clicked and an obvious expression of comprehension crossed her face. Oh.
That was the catch.

' You pinky swore. C'mon.' Marshall coaxed her. Fionna decided he was having way too much fun with how awkward she had suddenly become, and determinedly bit the other end of the pocky. Wait, Marshall was still holding her hand. Why was he still holding her hand? What!?
' See, now was that so hard?' Marshall said condescendingly and Fionna threw him a look. He jerked his eyebrows twice at her, and Fionna felt him squeeze her fingers.
' So, like I said. Last person to let go wins. Begin.'

Marshall took the first turn, keeping the end of the pocky in place between his lips by pouting as he bit down. Fionna followed up using the same technique, narrowing her eyes at him. They had a bit of a staring contest going on at the same time, Marshall's eyes appearing to have nothing but mild humour while Fionna kept hers stony cold.
His go.
her go.
His.

Two turns later, Marshall-lee had to turn his head slightly to the side to avoid bumping noses with Fionna. The gesture reminded Fionna far too much of kissing, and when he coupled it with another squeeze of her fingers any semblance of courage left her and she let go of the pocky. Interestingly though, Marshall didn't let go of her even as he leaned back and smiled at her triumphantly, polishing off the rest of the cookie.
' I knew you wouldn't win. You're just not brave enough, little bunny.' Fionna growled at him.
' I am too, I just.. didn't this time! And can I have my hand back?' She grumbled, trying to pull her fingers from his grasp.
' No. No you can't. Not until you win.' Marshall replied matter-of-factly, twining his fingers through hers. Fionna glared at him and watched as he pulled another stick out of the packet.

' We can be here all night baby, or you can suck it up and get over yourself. It's just a game.' Fionna made a small frustrated noise as Marshall put the pocky between his teeth again and smugly waited for her to play along. He clearly knew that something like this wasn't just a game (especially not to her, unfortunately). The connotations alone-... Argh, screw it.
Fueled by annoyance and a desire to show him he wasn't the boss of her, Fionna grabbed the pocky stick with her free hand and yanked it out of his mouth, before flipping it around.
' I want the chocolate end.' She muttered as explanation, and Marshall-lee shrugged, smiling at her in a way that made her want to punch him in that stupid smirky red mouth of his.

Just before he bit the plain end, Fionna jerked backwards and pulled it out from between her lips.
' Wait wait, I've played it with you, but you never said I had to win!' She protested, thinking she had found a loophole that would allow her to escape without inevitably kissing him in order to win. It wasn't that on some level, she didn't want to kiss him, it was more she didn't want to kiss him as the result of a stupid party game. Physical affection wasn't something the adventuress took lightly.
' Yeah, but do you really want to know that I beat you at something all because you're chicken?' Marshall replied, plugging the loophole with one thing Fionna couldn't break through: Her pride.
' I-' Marshall-lee interrupted her with chicken noises, then paused and took the pocky stick off of her, placing the plain end between his teeth then continuing with the chicken noises. When he stopped, Fionna tried to speak, but every time he would interrupt her with a sneaky little 'Bwaak, bwak bwak bwak...'

' Fine! Fine, I'll keep playing with you. King of the Blood-sucking Buttfaces...' Fionna finally gave up, grimacing at him. Marshall-lee grinned at her triumphantly, making the pocky flick once by touching it with his tongue. He leaned in towards her.
' Hey, don't get your little chicken panties in a twist. Bite the pocky, blondie.' Fixing him with a cold stare, Fionna determinedly bit off a large piece of the pocky, issuing a definite challenge. Marshall lee narrowed his eyes and smirked at her.

' Seriously Fionna, there were like thirty or forty pieces in here, and there are.. ten.. fourteen left. You are such a wimp.' Marshall-lee laughed at her, when once again Fionna cringed away from him when their noses touched. She growled at him, tears of frustration welling up in her eyes. Wiping them away before Marshall-lee could notice, Fionna pretending to be hiding her face.
Every stick, she would say she wouldn't give up, but then each game was different then the one before. Sometimes he'd turn his head differently, sometimes he'd take these agonizingly slow bites or sometimes he'd go so fast they were nose to nose after a few seconds. The hand that wasn't interlocked with hers wandered, occasionally touching her face and then he would look at her so intensely she had to look away. Or it would casually land on her waist or shoulder, but that would surprise her so much she would start and jerk away.
Marshall said it wasn't cheating, and she was just a jumpy little bunny. It wasn't his fault he made her nervous (insert annoying, smug smile accompanied by brand new pocky). Grr!

Fionna jabbed her hand into the packet and pulled out a stick, placing the chocolate end between her teeth and gesturing for Marshall to take his place. He did so without fear, lazily pulling it into his mouth with one fang showing. His confidence was completely overbearing, and once again Fionna told herself this time she'd win. Who cares if he kisses her, it's just pressing your lips together. That's not a real kiss. it's just a game. It's just a game.
Marshall was moving slowly this time, so just to prove to him that she wasn't going to chicken out, Fionna took a big bite, voluntarily turning her head. However, Marshall-lee didn't even flinch, moving his head the opposite direction as he bit down and placed his hand on her waist. Fionna's stomach twisted anxiously but instead of backing away, as was her first reaction, she held her ground. This was an adventure in her mind, a fight against fear. She was not... a... chicken!

Marshall-lee appeared slightly surprised when Fionna took another bite, much smaller then before but still. He had expected her to jump away like before when he touched her. Bunny was an apt nickname for her, in more ways then one. However, she couldn't last more than another inch or so, 'cause she couldn't handle being this close to him when they were in this kind of situation. She was just too shy. Run rabbit, run...
Fionna felt herself flush when she took another bite and his silky mess of curls brushed against her forehead. This was the closest she'd gotten, and she told herself that she had passed the point of no return. She had to follow through now, or risk endless teasing from this self-promoting, annoyingly attractive undead jerkwad.

She looked up from the pocky and saw a hint of... worry in Marshall's eyes? He was searching her face, and she felt his hand fall (nearly cringe) away from her waist. His turn was much less confident than all others before it, a tiny tentative nibble.
No matter how afraid she was, seeing his arrogant mask slip even for just a moment gave her a weird kind of courage. Seeing that on some level, that doing this wasn't just light entertainment for him awarded her an odd sense of satisfaction. Just a game my blood-stained bunny hat! You know this is more than that!
Her sense of determination strengthened, and Fionna took her turn firmly, before suddenly noticing that if Marshall really wanted to, he could end the game in a single go. If he managed to get her to give up her end, that is. Which she was not going to do, under any circumstances. Not even if he forced his tongue into her mouth and tried to make her relent, she'd hold her ground or push him out.
Thinking about Marshall kissing her that deeply (even if it was in a decidedly unromantic context) made Fionna flush bright crimson, and she made quick worried eye contact with the vampire, who had hesitated for the first time before taking his turn. Fionna realised with surprise that she wasn't the only one blushing around here. Marshall's blood was a blacker red then hers, lower in oxygen content and slower in movement due to the distinct lack of a working pump. But currently it was painting a dark maroon streak across his cheek bones, painfully visible against his pale skin. Fionna would've teased him mercilessly about it, but if she moved her lips at all she would kiss him.

Marshall took his turn, and their lips brushed together for the first time that entire evening. Fionna flinched, but didn't let go, and Marshall suddenly felt his mouth go dry.
Oh gob. She might actually win. Or they'd end up making out. Either scenario involved some (or a lot) of tonsil-tango. When he'd demanded her cooperation, he had pictured a cute quick little peck, to embarrass her and remind her exactly who she was in love with (What benefit this had for him, he didn't exactly know. Just.. kissing was desired. For some unfathomable reason. Completely and utterly unfathomable). But of course, the pocky game didn't allow for a situation like that. In order to get the last bit you had to wage tongue war over the final tiny little piece.
He hadn't thought this through.
Moments after he had comprehended his mistake (or genius), Fionna kissed him.

After half-recovering from the initial shock, Marshall noticed Fionna's eyes were tightly screwed up, and he could feel her lips trembling, warm and soft and shivery. Even though roughly half of his brain had reduced to nothing more than 'She's kissing me!' the other half saw how afraid she was and experienced a complex mix of feelings. The strongest being admiration for how determined she was to win. It seemed Fionna had a lot of pride in her bravery, with enough cojones to justify it. The, there was the part of him that really liked it, the part of him that was freaking out about the part that liked it, the part that was mentally facepalming at himself for creating this situation and the part that felt sorry for poor little blondie.
Now what the hell was he going to do?

Marshall-lee tried to tug on the pocky with his teeth, drawing it into his mouth without using his tongue but Fionna held on to her end stubbornly, even as her skin started to practically burn up. His options were either bite her lip or get his french on. That or give in.
What the hell, why not just go for it? He had said it was just a game after all. He had an excuse to kiss her. There was nothing romantic about it anyway, he didn't do romantic. Or feelings. Whatever.

Fionna nearly fainted from relief when she felt Marshall let go of the pocky with his teeth.
She had won!
And then nearly jumped out of her skin when he didn't move away and instead she felt his tongue press against her lips then force entry. His was forked, and this felt extremely odd. Not unpleasant, just really really strange.
She felt him try to sweep the last tiny bit of the pocky out of her mouth into his own, and suddenly realised what he was trying to do. But she would not stand for a technical win. She had taken the last bite then he had let go. She had already won! This was practically cheating!
Marshall had almost succeded in stealing the pocky, so she immediately fought back. It was a fight over the last piece of biscuit, mouths open and moving, pushing roughly against each other as they dueled for supremacy.

After what felt like forever, Fionna finally succeeded in claiming the win, triumphantly swallowing the last bit. She broke away from Marshall-lee and hooted in victory, easily pulling her hand out of his suddenly limp fingers and pumping her fist in the air.
' Ha! I told you... I would win!' She yelled gleefully, giddy from victory and lack of oxygen. She had just discovered how hard it was to breath and fight-kiss somebody at the same time. And that was also the first time she had ever tongue kissed somebody. And it was Marshall, of all people. The one she swore she would never get involved with. Screw all that BS and annoying heart-guts stuff now though, she had won!
However, the vampire hadn't reply to her exclamation. Fionna stopped celebrating and looked at his expression. The patches of colour on his cheeks had grown, and he was blinking at her with a very unusual emotion on his face. It was hard for her to make out ( bad choice of words there, considering what they had just been doing. Sort of.)
' Yo, Marshall? You.. dude?'
' I... lost?' He finally said, and Fionna rolled her eyes so hard it hurt.
' Yes, you lost Flyboy. I know this is a new experience for someone as godly and awesome as yourself, but get over it ya ding-dong.' She told him, picking up the rest of the pocky and walking back into the kitchen.

Marshall-lee watched her, his sense of disbelief becoming tainted with amusement. If he still needed to breath, he would've been gasping. If his heart could still beat, it would've been banging away so hard against his ribcage.
He hadn't felt like this in forever. Danger didn't scare him, comedy didn't make him laugh unless it was black humour. Nothing affected him much anymore, he was so desensitized to everything, except apparently this.
Immortality was great in some ways, but it was also a drag. Which was why he used to move around so much. Though he had stopped roughly four years ago. Just because, he had always told himself. No other reason. Definitely not a pretty blonde reason. And that was totally true.
For a while.
Now he wasn't sure whether it was true or not. And whether he wanted it to be true or not.

Obviously, Fionna couldn't know what he was thinking though. He had an image to maintain, a final barricade that he never, ever, under any circumstances removed. For anybody. Too dangerous, in more ways then one.
So yeah, let her think he was just bummed about losing. Let her think that to him it was just a game. He knew he was being cruel, leading her on like this when he knew that she cared about him, but what else could he do?
' You're so funny, Fionna. Seriously, check my sides. I might need stitches.'
Fionna stuck her tongue out at him- which immediately made him try and remember what she had tasted like (chocolate cookie)- then trotted back over to the couch and plopped down next to him, berating him for his overt use of sarcasm. This led to accusations of hypocrisy, which led to reminiscing about past fights, which continued to planning rematches, then comparison of weaponry and finally on to the weirdest tools either had ever had to use in extraordinary circumstances. Fionna found herself yawning as Marshall-lee explained how he'd figured out that giant centipede venom makes a great emergency adhesive.
So then-... You getting tired, bunny?' Marshall-lee questioned, floating back down on to the couch and shaking her shoulder. Fionna nodded, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She looked half gone already.
' A-a little. But I'm okay, you keep telling me about the- the..' She interrupted herself with another massive yawn. Marshall impulsively pulled her up against him, expecting Fionna to jerk awake and freak out, but being proven wrong when she instead did absolutely nothing. She was more tired then he had thought.
' -centi... you're comfy. Not warm, but comfy.'
' You were both.'
' W-what?'
' Nothing, Fionna. Nothing.'

Author's note: So this is a present for one of my good friends on Deviantart LaughingDog224. She did a thing about these two playing the pocky game then very flatteringly begged me to write a fanfiction of it, so I did. However, I couldn't resist attempting to tie it in with one of my other fanfics. There are little hints through the whole thing as to which one it is, and this is technically a sequel I suppose. I'll see if you guys can guess which one it is ;D

-WRA