Extraterrestrial Lemonade

A New Era

"So like- I have to do all the lumpin work or- something?!" Lsp threw her skinny arms in the air before setting her small purple hands on the purple lumps of her hips, giving the former rulers an upset look as she waited for their response. The large combined couple looked at each other with a worried glance before turning their attention back to their daughter. A low voice interrupted the few seconds of silence in the living room of their home. "Lsp.. you are a Queen now. One of the rulers of this galaxy, and there are responsibilities that come with being a Queen." Her dad said, raising his arm as he explained. The short sentence made him sound like a nerd to Lsp, especially with the chunky-square black glasses resting on his face.

It was now the mother's turn to speak to their annoyed daughter. "It may be stressful at first- but you will get used to it. Me and your father ruled this place for thousands of years, and we know that things will get easier once you get in the flow of things honey.." She tried to sound sweet, an awkward smile spreading on her purple face while she moved her short prune-brown hair to the side. The former Queen really hopped their only daughter would understand her new position in being a Queen, now that she had had a tough time in Ooo.

Lsp just crossed her arms, rolling her eyes at the small speeches being said to her. "What? You said you will crown me Queen if I came back! You didn't tell me all of this donked up stuff that I had to do!" She whined, starting to feel uncomfortable in the large brand new crown placed on her head that covered her precious star-gem. She had already discarded the small candy staff that Bubblegum had gifted to her when she was anointed Queen. Apparently it was supposed to help her channel her abilities and use them without causing a disaster. Lsp hasn't really used her abilities since the time she saved Ooo from the corrupted Elementals. She couldn't be bothered to find out what other things she could do, and really didn't care unless one of her abilities would make her more pretty.

Then her father spoke up again, fixing his glasses as if he was about to drop the biggest words on his daughter. "We knew you wouldn't come back if we had told you all of this. We really need you to take over Lumpy Space because... we won't be around to do everything forever. When we become a part of space, someone needs to be here to guide our people and keep things at peace. We need someone with the royal powers that you have to protect Lumpy Space from potential threats!" He seemed almost sympathetic to Lsp, and it made her uncomfortable. This whole thing was stressing her out, and sure the party and crowing was great- but she wasn't expecting this. The anointing only ended a day ago, and it wasn't fair to her that her parents told her all the bad news after the party, when she was in a really good mood. Being Queen sounded great, and maybe even fun- but now it was too much pressure.

Lsp didn't handle pressure too well.

"Oh my glob just shut up! I just like- helped save the world a few days ago..." She sighed over-dramatically, now seeming a little sad. "I..I know I have to do all this royal stuff, but I can't promise that I'll do things the way you want me to." The Queen took off her crown, holding it under an arm and looking away with a shimmer of guilt in her eyes. If her parents had said this to her a few months ago, she would have defiantly freaked and lashed out at them before running away to Ooo again. But now, she understood what she had to do as a princess- as a Queen. She just had to figure out how she could balance her daily royal tasks as well as still have fun with her friends back on Earth.

"..Before I start all that boring Queen training- can I spend like.. one more week in Ooo? I kind of left after that huge battle, and I haven't been able to see all the cool stuff that happened after. Oh and my BFF turtle princess is having a wedding- and Im totally being the flower girl." Lsp said with a small smile, pushing aside all of her negative thoughts as an imagine of her in a beautiful dress popped up in her mind. As she closed her eyes, it almost felt like she was already walking down that aisle, throwing flowers at the cute boys that surrounded her and watch her every move. "I'm gunna be so lumpin pretty!" She said to herself with excitement.

Her parents looked at each other before the former Queen spoke. "I guess you could spend a week in Ooo.. it you promise to come back and start your training.." Her mother said as she looked over at her husband, as if asking for approval for what she had just said. The former king nodded, fixing his gaze on his daughter. "Alright. But that crown has to stay here in Lumpy Space.." He said as he remembered all the effort that went in to the ancient crown that would one day help Lsp harness her powers. He couldn't risk it getting lost or stolen in Ooo. Thankfully the daughter agreed to this small condition, placing the huge crown on the teal coffee table in the living room. "Whatever- this thing was too heavy anyway." She waved her hand with a roll of her eyes, leaving the scene and going down the hall and up the stairs to her bright colored room. Once in her chambers, she dug up a pink bag covered with glittering yellow stars and tossed it on to her bed. She then grabbed a few of her dresses and also tossed them on to the bed beside the bag. The Queen didn't know why she seemed to be in such a rush, but she had to admit- she was very excited to go back and see the green lands of Ooo and see how her friends were doing despite seeing most of them only a day ago.

"This time I'll have my hot cash!" Exclaimed Lsp, snickering to herself as she threw the blue-winged piggy back on to the floor. It shattered in to pieces as she picked out the coins and roll of cash. Thankfully the currency exchange office was on the way to the portal to Ooo, and her sort-of friend Rebecca worked there. "Oh and I'll need food! Need to keep these lumps healthy!" She chuckled and fled down the stairs again to rummage through the food in her fridge like a starving animal. She grabbed a couple cans of beans, some fruits and juice boxes- but couldn't possibly bring enough food for herself to last a week. But that's where the money would come in handy. She laughed with joy and raced back up the stairs with her arms filled with food. Now getting everything in such a small backpack... was going to take a while.

Lsp was spat out the mouth of a magical frog as she landed on the soggy wet grass. She laid there, greeted by the stench of Earth and a shower of rain. The dark clouds loomed above her, and Ooo was clearly having some kind of storm right now by the looks of it. The rain poured down on her like a water fall as she struggled to get up from the slippery, muddy ground. "Ew- I'm all dirty!" She whined, clenching her muddy fists and cringing at the gloppy stains of mud covering parts of her body. She could even feel the bag on her back starting to soak up the rain. It started to feel like a wet rag stuck to her purple back, and everything began to weigh down on her. She didn't even realize she was only floating mere inches from the wet grass and dirt. It was already hard to float with the rough cold wind pushing her back.

Then a sudden bright bolt of light and a loud PANG came from somewhere in the forest surrounding her. She screamed and made her way swiftly towards a tree, shivering underneath it as if it would protect her from the lightning. She couldn't go back to Lumpy Space because of a storm- her time here was limited, and the clock was already ticking. "Oh my glob- I need a place to stay!" She shoved her hand behind her and in to the backpack, her fingers brushing against the contents of her bag as she struggled to find her phone. Lsp smiled as her hand gripped the small rectangular phone, and she pulled it out in a hurry. The light from the screen shone in her face, and it was almost comforting. She scrolled through her contacts list, completely ignoring the storm getting worse around her.

"Let's see.. Finn and Jake are like- Hero's. They have to let me stay in their tree house!" She then flinched, the edge of her lips pursing down as she sighed. "..right.. the tree house was destroyed- urgh! Where are they living now?! Well-my BFF Turtle Princess has to let me stay. That's what BFF's are for!" The Queen hovered her small finger over the call button, hesitating as she thought more about it while squinting her eyes. "..wait.. there is NO WAY I'm being a third wheel! That's just totally lame!" She quickly moved her finger away from the button, going back to her contacts list. She mumbled to herself as she scrolled down casually. "..Flame Princess.. too hot! Ice King- or Gunter, Orgalorg- whatever... too cold! Princess Bubblegum... too nerdy.. Slime princess.. too slimy! …Oh!" She stopped at a specific contact, a familiar yellow and handsome face as the contact's picture. It was Lemomgrab, in his grey armour. "..maybe he will let me stay..? Pfftt.. I know he can't resist my body!" She laughed to herself before pressing the call button, bringing the phone up to the side of her head as she waited impatiently. The phone rang and rang and rang...

Lemomgrab was in the middle of reading a historic book whilst sitting on his bed when he heard the buzzing of his phone on the wooden bedside table. "..Hm?" He responded to the sudden noise, closing the book before reaching out to pick up his phone. He squinted his eyes and looked at the screen as if he was trying to see every pixel of the image that was displayed. An uneasy blueish blush appeared on his cheeks as he noticed it was the princess he was oddly attracted too. The picture was Lsp, holding Lemomgrab's phone while pushing her face right next to his with a smile. She had taken this quick selfie in memory of defeating Golb. She liked to think that she defeated it since she did help harmonize with her companions during battle.

Lemomgrab was so close to putting his phone back down and covering the sides of his head with the pillows on the bed. He wanted to scream and run around in panic, but hide and cower at the same time- but he simply took a deep breath, before answering casually. "..H-hello?" He spoke nervously, confused when he heard the loud winds and rumbling of thunder as if she was right in the middle of the storm that was passing by Ooo.

"Oh my glob- I.. I want to live with you for a week. I need a place to stay that doesn't suck, and I'm guessing your castle is like- really cool." She complimented, floating through the forest in an attempt to get away from the thundering bolts that where coming from the south. She seemed to be out of breath on the other side of the phone, and.. struggling a lot. Lemomgrab rushed to reply, clearly worried, he sprung up from his bed. "Uhmmmmh- I..I.. I'll come and get you! A..And make sure the servants p..prepare for your arrival!" He loudly stated, hearing her sigh of relief made him relax a little. "Thanks babe! Now hurry up and—" The call ended. Her phone had died, still in her hand as fear started to overwhelm her. The weird sounds coming from the rustling bushes, breaking twigs and distant howls merged with the dark and gloomy storm sent a shiver down her alien spine. However, as if just on cue, she found a small hole in a tree, deciding it was a good enough shelter for now. After she put her wet phone back in her even more wet bag, the Queen traveled up the soggy tree, peeking in to the light hole. Inside was a neat dry hay-covered nest. A single fluffy squirrel resting peacefully until the shadow that loomed over it made it wake up. The squirrel screeched, and seemed scared at first. Lsp learned the hard way that there was no point in fighting a squirrel. She would have to bribe.

"Hey, I'll give you some beans if you let me crash for a while." She said as she reached back in to her bag and pulled out a wet can of beans. The small hazel squirrel looked at it as she held it out with her cold rain covered hand. The little black nose sniffed it before the fluffy animal nodded and took the can in its tiny arms, carrying it deeper in to the tree. Lsp smiled lightly as she sat inside the nest. It was a bit cramped, but was much better than being out there in the cold rain while wind and thunder blinded everything. Besides, sometimes being in a cramped tree or log helped her go to sleep. She loved sleeping in logs, so this wasn't so different. The warmness and fluffiness of the squirrel that had curled up next to her had immediately sent her in to a deep sleep within a matter of seconds..

Lemomgrab had the exact coordinates to the location of the call that Lsp had placed not long ago. Thanks to his mother-like figure Princess Bubblegum, he was able to learn a few things about technology and about this new phone she had gifted to him when he was sent back to his Lemon Kingdom. The Earl kept a firm grip on his phone as he hopped on to the lemon camel that had been saddled up and ready to go, thanks to the servants of the large household. His shinning armor clanked as he got on, putting away his phone in a secret pocket underneath his silver armor before gripping the leathery reigns tightly. "Bye." He said plainly to his subjects as he kicked the camel, and it started galloping away and ran out the gates with the Earl on its back. Lemomgrab was steady on his steed, putting his silver helmet on while it ran through the wind and dark clouds. A dust of sand formed behind him as his camel ran faster across the pathway. He had a good glance at his phone before putting it away earlier, memorizing the location of Lsp's phone accurately. He used his semi-photographic memory to steer his camel in to the right directions, and soon its dry hooves ran on soggy grass. The small tinkering noise of rain dropping on to his armor started to annoy him, but he was able to quickly get over it when a bolt of lighting struck somewhere in the distance before him. But too determined to find his princess, he urged for the camel to go faster, racing through the creepy forest until the destination was close by. He slowed down his steed, turning his helmet-covered head left and right, in search for Lsp and eventually deciding to remove the helmet from his face. "She should be here.." The Earl mumbled to himself in frustration, starting to panic as the surroundings around him were nothing but darkness and quiet nature. What if he was too late? What if he failed again?! What if-

A pained groan was heard from not far away, and Lemongrab recognized that voice easily. She wasn't far, and he quickly steered his camel to the direction of which the sound came from. He was quite surprised to see a small purple being, squished inside a squirrels home. "L..Lsp-" Lemongrab hopped off his camel, knowing it didn't care about anything and wouldn't go anywhere without his command. He slowly approached the tree she was in, looking inside before poking her once in an attempt to wake her up. He tried a couple times, but she wouldn't budge. He uneasily turned back to face his camel, looking at it determinedly.

"..I..If I loose my head... y..you shall be in charge till Bubblegum makes a new me.." He said with a shaky voice, but the camel only replied with a bored cry that sounded a lot like a moo of a cow. The Earl turned his attention back to Lsp, scared as he put his arms in the squirrel home and gently pulled her out. He held the warm being in his arms, looking down at her weakened face. He was surprised she hadn't woken up, but he knew something wasn't right.

Then a drop of cold rain landed on the yellow star-shaped gem on her forehead, and it sizzled. A small mist of steam rose and disappeared in to thin air above. Curious, Lemomgrab placed his hand lightly on her forehead, calmly letting his hand burn a little before pulling it away. "T..this isn't right. S..she needs the special lemons!" He said to his camel before hopping back on, letting the metal helmet cover his face again as he held Lsp in one arm while his other held the reigns. "Hya!" He kicked his steed, steadying it in to a graceful gallop, keeping his metal armored arm around Lsp securely as they ran through the force of the wind. He held her close to his chest, hearing the pained groans every now and then. The Earl hated himself for not bringing at least a raincoat to cover the princess. He left in such a hurry, he wasn't even thinking about how to shield her from the rain. But soon this would all be over, he would be back in the comfort of his castle and get the servants to harvest the special healing lemon to give to Lsp. The two of them would be safe under the warmth of the castle, and wouldn't have to worry about the storm that may hang around in Ooo for longer than predicted by the Candy Kingdom's weather report.

Lemomgrab had a T.V that could connect to all different kingdoms content, especially the Candy Kingdom channel. He recalled hearing on the T.V yesterday about Bubblegum inviting the candy citizens in to her home for the duration of the storm. She couldn't fit the Gumball Guardians in her castle, so she had made them huge raincoats and sent them to a large cave where they could wait it out. To those huge war-machines, this storm must be nothing. His mind trailed along random thoughts until the bright yellow lights of his kingdom shone from ahead. The rain continued as he strode in to the open field which had a few trees standing around, with his kingdom smack dab in the centre of it all. Before his place was surrounded by nothing but a desert, but now life started growing and more green started peeking out of the grounds that were once nothing but dry dust. The kingdom looked much better surrounded by a green scenery.

When they returned safely to the castle, Lemongrab threw his helmet away somewhere and let it clatter on the floor. Then rushed to the best bedroom in the castle- his bedroom, and set Lsp down on to it gently while putting her soggy backpack down on the ground at the end of the bed. On the way to his room, he had grabbed a bath towel to wipe off the grainy bits of sand and drops of rain on her small body. It was only when she was fully dry and clean that he then placed her on the bed. Now that she was sleeping with her head rested on a yellow lemon shaped pillow, and was sinking in to a soft cloud-like mattress, she seemed more comfortable and at peace. The pained groans subsided and the tension in her body faded as it felt the comfort of the blanket underneath. Lemongrab should have tucked her under the blanket, but it was too late now. He now had some thing else to attend to so that he could help his beloved. The special lemons that grew on a small tree at the top of this castle- it would only provide two lemons every year that could heal any injury or sickness. There was only one on the tree as of this year, since the last one he had taken down to use a drop of its juice to heal a paper cut. And then stored the rest of it in the fridge and used it for nothing but small cuts or bruises, since he was very careful not to get drastic injuries.

Lemongrab hurried up the many stairs of his home, not bothering to answer the servants offers to be carried up there. It would be too slow, and Lsp needed to be healed as soon as possible in his mind. Knowing that she was in pain hurt him mentally, and he had to do something about it.

Once he got to the very top, where the sun would usually hit the tree at the perfect angle, he didn't hesitate to pull off the one lonely Lemon hanging from a thin branch of the tree. He was there and gone in an instant, now getting himself to his own personal kitchen. This place was so big, that he had kitchen for the cooks and slaves to work at, and then his own for when ever he felt like cooking or baking himself. A part of him had vaguely remembered the taste of apple pie from his past life as Lemomgrab One. All the memories and feelings from his former brothers were almost gone, but there were a few things that seemed.. familiar to him. It was usually the bad memories that would come back to attack him in his dreams. He had to keep telling himself he wasn't them. Sure he may have been made with parts of their lemon corpses, but that didn't make him them. He was a new lemon, and tried not to think about the confusing puzzle-like flash backs he had every now and then. Right now, he had to give Lsp a little bit of the special, sparkling lemon juice.

Lemongrab held the liquid-filled silver spoon nervously, crouched beside his own bed where Lsp was sleeping quietly. She was sleeping facing him with her right cheek squished against the pillow, and the Earl was waiting patiently for her to wake up so he could give her this spoonful of healing juice. It started to make him anxious that Lsp wasn't waking up yet. She needed to take this, the sooner the better. The anxiety was prodding at him, and poking his mind and telling him to just wake her up and give it to her. He didn't even realize how tense he was, and about thirty minutes later, he had had enough of waiting.

"HERE!" He yelled and pushed the spoon of healing juice past Lsp's slightly parted lips and in to her open mouth. "MMPH-!" In a split second she snapped awake, and by instinct, she swallowed whatever was being fed to her. She cringed slightly at the sourness before grabbing the silver spoon and taking it out of her mouth while sitting up. She looked slightly upset and crossed her arms as she looked at the guilty Earl beside her bed, slowly covering his face with the edge of the bed.

"What the lump?! You can't just shove it in my mouth like that!" She snapped and pointed the clean spoon at him, annoyed at what had just happened. "What even was that stuff? Lemonade?" She asked curiously, and since despite the sourness, she actually enjoyed the taste of lemon. She was positive it was lemonade, but something tasted.. different. Lemongrab shook his head before sitting on the bed next to her. "I-it was healing juice. You're welcome." He stuttered, not sure if he was sounding nervous or just speaking normally. But it didn't matter to Lsp, she thought it was sweet despite him being so sour. The fact that he was trying to keep himself composed to talk to her like this tug a string in her heart. She placed the spoon down beside her on the blanket and cuddled under his arm like a cat trying to get affection. "It's so good to see you again! Like, we haven't seen each other since we kissed and sang together at that whole end-of-the-world party." She commented in her usual tone, making the Lemon have happy flash backs of his first kiss. How she had offered it to him and he accepted. It was the best thing that has ever happened to him. He wanted it to happen again, and maybe even have Lsp as his wife one day- but this was only a dream as of now. He felt a lot like he was out of her league.. after seeing all those powerful stones circling around her in approval as she drained her energy to save Ooo.. it was incredible. During those cursed days were like being trapped within his own body, but all he could remember was himself thinking over and over again- how powerful she must be to heal him from that curse. Not just him, but all of Ooo. He could never top that in anyway, and he doubted that he could ever even impress Lsp.

"So.. I was going to go to this wedding-" She started, but Lemongrab finished it for her. "Mhmnn...T..turtle wedding..." He replied, and Lsp perked up as she ended the small hug. "Yeah! I'm going to be the hottest flower girl- you have to come!" She said excitedly, knowing that if Lemongrab didn't end up coming to the wedding, she would defiantly steal the rental dress and take It back 'home' just to show him how it looked on her. Lemongrab blushed a faint greenish blue on his cheeks and looked away, his eyes desperately trying to find something around the room to focus on. "..Y..yes..I...I..I'll be attending this- event." He got up from the bed, looking over at the small lemon clock nailed to the wall right next to his calendar.

If he was right, the wedding would take place in a few days. Right now it was close to mid night, and he could feel himself get sleepier by the second. While Lsp on the other hand seemed to be wide awake and ready to go to the nearest party if it wasn't for the dangerous storm outside. The queen followed his gaze and noticed the time, dismissing the calendar since she knew the wedding wasn't today. Her eyes moved to look up at Lemongrab's face- he seemed tired. She rest a small hand on his shoulder, and he looked over at her with sleepy eyes. "You can't go to a wedding lookin like a lumpin zombie! Get some sleep." She teased, and practically ordered him, but Lemongrab didn't argue. Her confidence and direct-ness was something he found attractive and couldn't always say no to. But he had his questions before deciding to go unconscious for the night. "...w..what about you?!" The last part was spoken louder than he expected, but Lsp just smiled and moved her hand away. "I'll like.. explore your castle or somethin.." she waved her hand carelessly, slightly excited to take herself on a well-paced tour around this luxurious place. Lemongrab had an uneasy expression plastered on his face, clenching his fists nervously. "Mhmmm...m- d..don't go in the research room!" He exclaimed before walking over to the exit door of his bedroom, which only confused Lsp. "Hey! Where are you going dumb dumb? Your bed is right here!" She gave out a huff of a laugh and crossed her arms, the Lemon stopped in his tracks. "..b...b..but that is where y-you will be sleeping!" It was almost a question, but was spoken as an statement. Lsp shook her head side to side slightly before lifting the covers from the corner of the bed and holding it up to display more of the comfy bed. "..I can totally sleep anywhere. I don't even think I'm gunna sleep tonight- so get yourself in here." She responded with a hint of an blush on her cheeks. The pokerfaced Earl looked at her, and then the bed- "Ok." He simply replied before starting the process of taking his shinny metal armor off. He was wearing his usual grey uniform underneath it, but Lsp still found it hot anyway.

As he got in to bed, the former princess gently put the blanket over him and then planted a gentle kiss on his forehead. The Earl blushed as he felt the soft touch of her lips on his yellow skin. "Good night." Lsp said with a bit of a scrunched up face. But she was quick to shake herself out of the sour effect and then blew out the warm candle on his bedside table. She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her while Lemongrab let out a sleepy yawn and closed his eyes. The smell of a burnt candle, cozy blankets and the memory of the comforting lips on his forehead sent him straight to sleep with a faint smile on his face.

"Oh my glob- does he only have lemons in his fridge?!" Lsp complained as she practically dove through the things in his fridge. This was the small personal kitchen she was in, and the cold fridge seemed much more clean and fancier than the ones she had seen previously like at Finns house. "..Lemons...Lemons..another lemon..." She mumbled as she tossed out each lemon she found somewhere in the room. The fridge was empty when she was done going through all its contents, which was nothing but lemons. She sighed, looking back at the mess she made on the tiled floor and deciding to go pick up all the lemons she had thrown over her shoulder. "..I guess I'll have to get creative.." she sighed, and now that all the lemons were back in the fridge, she took her time to go look through the cupboards.

She spend a good thirty minutes searching evert inch of the unused kitchen. Then sprawled out all the things she found in those empty, dusty cupboards that were all around the kitchen. Some even had spider webs in them, but most were just empty. "..let's see... we have some sugar, old butter sticks, flour, and these weird looking eggs... why would he keep butter and eggs in the cupboard? Maybe he wanted to make more space for lemons in the fridge?" She let out another confused sigh, looking over the ingredients. "I would totally make scrambled eggs but he doesn't have a stove that freakin works!" She floated over to the half destroyed stove again, turning the nobs and trying to get the fire started, but nothing happened. This kitchen didn't seem to be functioning at all, as if he hadn't used it for decades. "Oh my glob-" Lsp then noticed the oven worked perfectly fine, and inside was a clean metal tray. She pulled the tray out before placing it on the stove, examining it with squinted eyes and a hand under her chin. "..hmm..." she thought to herself as she searched through the vast library of her memories for a specific list of things that she could bake. She remembered there was this one time her parents hosted a baking contest in Lumpy Space. She entered with a group of fake friends, and observed them make a delicious batch of chocolate and peanut butter bars that almost looked like brownies with frosting on them. Her team obviously won and she took home the trophy.

"Maybe instead of peanut butter and chocolate, I can use lemons?" She grinned to her self and got to work. But first she hurried back to Lemongrabs room to get her charger and phone out of her bag, then hurried back to plug it in the outlet next to the fridge. Then she started, pulling out an old bowl from a lower shelf before commencing the process of making lemon bars- or cakes. It took her more effort than intended ti pre heat the oven, mix all the ingredients and pour it on to the rectangular shaped tray. Once she put it in the oven, she set a timer on her now charged phone for twenty minutes. It made her smile once she saw the hundred percent charged battery icon on the top right corner of her phone, and she quickly unplugged it and started texting her friend, Turtle Princess. But before sending the text, she realized it was an hour past midnight, and she wouldn't want to ruin the first wedding she would ever be invited to just because she woke up the bride with a text, thus making the princess upset at her. "Whatever." She sighed again, deciding to float around the castle while she waited for the Lemon cakes to bake.

She wandered down the gleaming hallways, and snooped around in the huge library that had books from all over Ooo. She was also greeted by a few servants while she was wandering around. They all seemed to know who she was and that she was a queen. It almost felt like she was the queen of this Lemon Kingdom than Lumpy Space due to all the Lemons calling her 'your highness'. She knew it didn't specifically mean she was the queen of this kingdom, but it felt like it. Lsp enjoyed exploring each room of the castle, with one room filled with outfits for Lemongrab- that was her favorite room so far. There was however, a curious-looking room across from the hall of dungeons. It had a rather large wooden door with signs plastered on it in messy handwriting. Lsp look the liberty to read all the words out loud. "..Private research lab…entering is unacceptable? This sounds interesting!" Completely forgetting what Lemongrab had told her a few hours ago, she went ahead and turned the doorknob. It was locked, and wouldn't budge. Her smile turned upside down, and she crossed her arms. "This stupid door doesn't understand royalty!" She growled and turned her back to it in one swift motion, until a very specific melody started echoing throughout the halls. She flinched from the sudden noise, and recognized it to be her ringtone for her red cell phone. She held it up to see who was calling, but it was only the timer going off for twenty minutes. "The Lemon cake!" She gasped and made her way back to the kitchen in a hurry, getting lost a couple times but eventually making it back. She searched the kitchen once again for oven mitts, which she found under the sink. The queen opened the oven, letting the sweet and sour scent sink in and overflow the room before placing the tray on the counter and closing the oven. Once her oven mitts were tucked away, she turned her attention back to the tray of the steaming cake. She searched the kitchen drawers for a knife, and when she found one she took her time to cut the cake up in to small square pieces. She had hoped this would be better then eating a raw lemon, and picked one up suspiciously. She sniffed it through her non-visible nose holes before taking a bite with caution, expecting for the worse but hoping for the best at the same time. The cake was soft in her mouth, but mostly hot. The taste... wasn't bad. It tasted like a normal lemon sponge cake. Wasn't too sour, wasn't too sweet, and perfect for a midnight snack. She sat down on the counter stool, taking another cake while going on her phone. Ooo's social medics network was much different from Lumpy Space, and she appreciated that. It was more interesting. Seeing different kinds of people with different kinds of styles and traditions on her social media home-feed. So for the rest of the night, she munched away on the lemon cakes while looking through posts and photos on her phone, scrolling through with nothing but her thumb. "These are so freaking good!" She commented on her own baking and gave herself a pat on the back as she moved on to her next piece of cake.

The morning sun beamed through the glass window and on to Lemongrabs face. He woke to the bright light hovering above his eyelids and got up with a stretch, sliding out of bed and opening the curtain's fully to light up his room. But then the grumble of his stomach made him realize that he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday's lunch. The hungry Earl left his room in a hurry and went to the dinning table, where all of his best subjects sat around talking to each other with empty plates in front of them. As soon as Lemongrab walked in to the large room, the lemon people fell silent. This didn't bother him, because he actually preferred silence than the sound of mumbling voices in the morning, while most people disliked it when the conversations flew out the room because of their one appearance.

As he sat down on his chair, everyone looked down at the small fancy bowl filled with beady Lemonjohns. The small crunchy lemon candy that most of the subjects of this kingdom ate when they weren't eating lemons. There were a few trees in the kingdom that were dedicated to the lemons that would soon come to life, and it was simply easier to make the subjects eat Lemonjohns than the future lemon generation. But lemons could only come to life when Princess Bubblegum came in to town with her special solution that could increase the kingdoms population. Lemongrab had heard the tales of his past brothers starving themselves to create more lemon people, thus his mother Bubblegum took away the privilege of him being able to create more subjects. But he didn't blame her, and knew that it was better this way.

"Commence breakfast." The Earl said as he took a spoon full of tiny lemonjohns and crunched them up in his mouth with his sharp teeth. Usually he would have three spoonfuls for breakfast, two spoonfuls for lunch, and one spoonful for dinner. However, he found himself sneaking snacks in his own kitchen and eating some throughout the day. He kept telling himself that he was the ruler of this place, and that eating out of the specific meal times was ok for him. And after three spoonfuls, he concluded the meal and his servants carried him up to his usual window where he would go by to check on progress of his kingdom.

He stood by the open window, looking down upon all the working Lemons. Everything seemed to be in place, and going well. He hoped one day, that this kingdom would have more lemons and more families to enjoy the glories of life. Of course he himself still had issues enjoying his own life, but things had changed a lot since he tried to end his own life by merging with Matthew. Lots of bad things happened, that lead to good things. His mother helped with his mental and physical conditions, and he felt like he became closer to her after the short Gum War. And then he had his first kiss, that was offered to him. He didn't have to ask or even try- it came out of the blue like an unexpected present. The memory lead him to snap back in to the present, remembering that Lsp was still somewhere in his humble home doing who knows what. He swiveled on his heel and turned to walk down the hall as his boots clicked along the floor, he started searching room by room for the purple being that he invited to live with him for a week.

He found her in the steaming room that echoed with the sounds of splashing the drip-drops of water on to tiled floor like a large bathroom. In the middle of the steam-filled room was a huge hot tub, bubbling slightly as the queen laid back against a corner with half of her body in the water. She didn't wear any clothes in general, but it still made him uneasy and maybe even blush a tad. Lsp heard the foot steps approaching and then stop. She turned, still in the water, and looked at Lemongrab with a smile. "Finally you're awake! I want to show you something!" She floated out of the water, shaking like a fluffy dog as bits of water flew off of her. Then she grabbed his hand and floated at a fast pace towards the small kitchen. "I made like- these super cool cakes that I know you will lumpin love!" She said as she let go of the hand and pushed the tray across the counter towards the Earl. There was only one small square piece of cake left, since Lsp had eaten most of them through out the night. Lemongrab looked at it suspiciously just as she did, and picked it up, sniffing it with his long nose, also similar to how Lsp did before she took a bite herself.

"..what is this..?" He asked her, but she was a bit of a tease this morning. "Just try it!" She replied, annoying the Earl with an unanswered question. But he still took a bite, instantly falling in love with the taste and eating the whole thing in his next bite. He could hear a faint chuckle as he ate. "Oh I knew you would love it. I made it myself." She bragged, picking up the empty tray and tossing it in the sink. She sat back down on the kitchen stool that was next to Lemongrab. "You need to buy more stuff for your kitchen. You can't live off of lemons!...well.. maybe you can, but I can't!" And now she was complaining. Her moods were always all over the place, but one small compliment always seemed to make her feel better. Lemongrab had to agree with her on this one though. He needed more things in his kitchen if he wanted to make tastier things. Especially if Lsp was staying- since she ate so many different things. He wanted her to feel at home while she was here, and to do that he would need to get different types of foods.

"...mhmm..t..then let us go shopping!" He shouted while slamming a fist on the table. It made the queen flinch, but a playful smile appeared on her face shortly after. "That's the spirit! You're like- totally rich right?" She asked before getting up, happy to see him nod slowly. He always had Bubblegum giving him some money to spend every month. But he had only ever used that money to build his kingdom and buy silverware and shovels. However, for the past couple months, he hadn't even spent a dime. So he did have a lot of money in his pocket that he didn't mind spending. "Yes, I have money." He responded as the two walked out the back of the castle, both enjoying the spring-like breeze and the warmth of the sunlight. Lemongrab ordered the stable servants to saddle up his camel, and while they did so- he took the chance to ask the daring question that had been ringing in his mind ever since that kiss from Lsp.

"...a...are we.. a- couple?" He asked her with a blush, glancing down at the pondering queen. She tried her best to hide her own blush, since she wanted him to feel like she was a rare item that he had gotten a hold of. She wanted to be confident and make him see how lucky he was that she chose him- but in reality, he was just as important to her than herself. Lsp found herself holding his hand, looking up with a cute smile. "If you promise not to freaking dump me, then we can be a couple.." it came out meaner than she had intended, but it was as close as she could get to saying yes. But thankfully, Lemongrab just smiled a small smile back at her, giving her hand a slight squeeze. "..Y..you will never be dumped."