Princess Bubblegum usually uses her sugary talents to make fantastic concoctions. But today, she is slaving away over a marzipan bowl, with a peppermint spoon and a bunsen burner repurposed into a stovetop. She poured an overdose of sugar into it, she's certain, and had to make many decisions concerning the placement of caramel. Beside her is a platter of freshly chopped strawberries, some with leaves still sticking to them.
Suddenly, much to her surprise, Finn and Jake come bounding in.
"You need rescuing!" Finn exclaims, pointing at her. "From boredom!"
Princess Bubblegum turns around.
"Oh, I'm not bored, Finn." She returns to her stirring.
"I smell something good." Jake stretches out his arm, dipping his finger into her bowl. She swats at him with her spoon, but he retracts himself before she can do much damage. "These are candying supplies."
"PB," Finn asks curiously, sitting down on the countertop, "why are you making candied strawberries?"
She shrugs lightly, with a cottony sweet sigh. There's someone on her mind. It's impossible to help but think about the person who keeps robbing her of all ruby red treats from her windowsill. At first she tried covering things in paint—but the intruder drank that. Eventually, she began to give up on ways to deter the thief. But, then, she decided to kill her with kindness.
Princess Bubblegum drops the strawberries into the bowl and begins to stir it over the bunsen burner.
Eventually, it isn't Princess Bubblegum who's bored, and Finn and Jake race off to find adventure. She continues stirring until the strawberries are perfectly sweet. She straightens up, walks to the window and sits them on the sill on a silver plate.
After that, she goes and sits in an armchair to wait. And wait.
Princess Bubblegum is woken by a tapping on her window.
"Bonnibel," a voice hisses and she sits up, walking to the window.
She is face to face with Marceline the Vampire Queen, who looks somewhat distraught. Usually, Marceline looks either smug or carefree, never disturbed by something. It leaves Princess Bubblegum utterly perplexed.
"Yes?" Princess Bubblegum inquires, opening the window.
The peppermint breezes flows in on her, as well as a mouthful of Marceline's hair. She spits it out and steps back, letting the vampire float inside. She holds the strawberries in her arms as she sits down in Princess Bubblegum's armchair.
"You ruined perfectly good strawberries," Marceline complains, crossing her legs.
"I made them better," Princess Bubblegum retorts quite crossly. Usually she is as sweet as can be, but Marceline tends to drive her to her wits' end.
"I'm not going to suck up some sugar with these perfectly delicious berries," Marceline continues, smirking slightly.
"What do you want me to do? Lick it off for you?" Princess Bubblegum didn't sign up for this.
"Go ahead, Bonnie." Marceline holds the platter out and Princess Bubblegum plucks a strawberry off of it. She licks off the sugar and tosses it onto Marceline's lap. The vampire giggles most grotesquely as she sucks the red out of the strawberry. She tosses the greyed corpse of the fruit onto the floor.
"Another?" Marceline is testing Princess Bubblegum's limits.
"Fine." They repeat the motion. "Want anything else?"
"Yes," Marceline says, her smirk broadening. "A kiss."
"A kiss?" Princess Bubblegum is shocked. "Why?"
Marceline shrugs. Princess Bubblegum leans in, for no reason she can comprehend, and kisses Marceline's thin lips. They taste like strawberries.
Princess Bubblegum decides she quite likes the taste of strawberries, around the same time that Marceline realizes that she enjoys the taste of sugar.
