Even now, after nearly one thousand years with her brother Marshall Lee, he still managed to surprise the Vampire Queen on a daily basis.
She had been reclining above the couch in her living room with her guitar in hand, about to try a new melody when none other than Marshall Lee walked in as if he owned the place. That alone could have set her off. "What do you want Marshall, can't you see I'm busy?" She was truly aggravated that he had bothered her right as she was going to vent. She had been in a bad mood all day and his presence defiantly wasn't helping. "Relax sis, I just wanted to see if you were doing anything today?" "Well of cour-" She began to snap at him before noticing the devious glimmer in his eyes. The spark that showed he was planning something, some trick or trap. She wanted in on it. Whatever it was.
"That depends…what are you planning?" She nonchalantly began strumming her guitar, masquerading at not caring. "Oh you know…the usual…scaring Cake and Fionna and then later there's a party I'm going to…I was wondering if you wanted to come…?" He floated past her and into her kitchen, coming out a moment later with a bowl of strawberries. He offered her some and then took one for himself, greedily sucking the color with his long white fangs. "Well -thanks- a party? That sounds…fun…what's the catch? There's always a catch." She snagged a strawberry from the bowl and followed his lead, greedily sucking every ounce of redness from the fruit. She knew that he wouldn't just bring her to a party out of the goodness of his heart, at least not when he had that glimmer in his eyes. There had to be something he wanted from her, or something he could gain and eventually use against her.
"W-what are you talking about? There's no catch!" he looked up, pretending to be shocked but stopped as soon as he caught her piercing eyes staring him down. He quickly back tracked, knowing that if she said no, he would be in deep trouble. "Well…here's the thing Marce, I'm playing at the party, it's a pretty awesome gig, lots of important people, this could be my big break. Except for the fact that my band's bass player, Scott, went to the night-o-sphere to visit his girl. And now he's stuck there until tomorrow night. I was thinking…could you maybe…?" He gestured to the axe bass resting in her hands and looked up at her with pleading eyes. "I knew there would be a catch! You're so predictable sometimes. So what you're asking me to do, you want me to play at the party as your backup player. Of all the things I could be doing, you want be to be your backup player? What's the name of your band anyways?" She stopped reclining and stood with her hand on her hip and stared up at him, watching as he balanced the bowl of now-grey fruit on his lap.
"Yes, I am. Please Marcy! You're the best bass player I know! You're even better than me, and a thousand times better than Scott. I still can't believe he got stuck in the night-o-sphere. He knew we had a gig. I'm going to rip his head off next time I see him." Marshall started fuming but snapped out of it quickly. "The band's name? Oh it's Hambo." He nearly got on his knees and begged, he was so desperate, but then it hit him. He knew that once she found out the band's name, she wouldn't be able to resist. And he was right. Marceline's favorite childhood toy had been named Hambo, and she missed him dearly.
"Hambo. Of course I'll help you out Marsh. Anything for Hambo" She winked but her voice was sad and nearly inaudible as she continued "Anything for you Hambo. I miss you so much" By the end of the sentence, her voice was so low Marshall could barely hear her and followed her gaze down to her worn converse. Along the once-white sides were little purple-grey doodles. A teddy bear, and the words: 'Hambo. My best friend forever until death'
He considered those words with an ironic edge. When they were kids, Hambo had stayed with her, never once leaving her side. Then she died, and had come back immortal. After that, Hambo had gotten lost or misplaced more and more often. To the point that she hadn't even noticed that her now-ex boyfriend and taken him away. Marshall's eyes darkened at the memory of Ash. He was a lying douche bag who had hurt his sister badly. He would kill him if he got the chance.
The two vampire siblings had never been very 'touchy feely' but Marshall watched as the tears brimming his sister's eyes threatened to fall over. He reached out a gentle hand and hugged her gently. "It's okay Marceline, we'll find him someday, I'm sure of it!" He tried to reassure her but even he was doubtful. The reality was that Hambo was probably long gone, and would never be found. He held on tightly to the chance that it was untrue, if only for Marceline's sake.
Marceline sniffed, and wiped her eyes, looking at him hopefully. "Y-you really think so Marshall? You think he's still out there somewhere?" Her voice was like that of a small child, her face, painted with a mixture of sadness and fearful hope. "Well, Marcy, what good would it do to think that he wasn't? He is somewhere. If we keep looking, we're bound to find him. You just have to believe that he's out there waiting for you." He replied quickly, reassuring her without missing a beat and smoothed her hair back. She held on to him tightly for a moment and then let go, leaving him to go float over to her guitar. She picked it up and began absentmindedly strumming a tune.
When she looked up, her face was clear of sadness, and any trace of her tears was gone. "I'll help you Marshall. If only for Hambo." She told him again how she'd help him with a new strength in her words, a strength that Marshall hadn't heard in at least two hundred years.