Immediately as I walk into the castle doors, I know I'm not welcome.
Even though this is the Bi-annual Gumball ball, and all the royals are invited, and I PERSONALLY got a fancy lace invitation addressed to "Marceline the Vampire Queen", I can feel the coldness in the room when I enter. I few harsh looks, but it's mostly body language. People turn there backs to me. Don't acknowledge me by waving or introducing themselves. And I know why.
I'm a cold blooded vampire. An evil creature. An outsider. And I'm used to that. But I came here on my own watch. The reason I was even allowed to come was because of there proper manners and high society "rules". I'm a royal, so I can come. That doesn't mean people have to like me.
Why'd I even attend this stupid thing? I dunno. I guess I just missed being around people. Even though I'm no more than a rat to them, at least there are living beings around me.
Suddenly I bump into something. I fall to the ground and the thing falls too. I land on my butt and shake my head. I look up to see a candy person getting up on their knees. They'll probably angrily huff and walk away dignified.
"Oh, sorry!" they say.
Wait… that wasn't wasn't what I expected!
Well, if they were going to be nice I might as well too.
"No, I'm sorry," I say, "I wasn't looking. It was my fault."
I look up to see a woman about my age. Everything about her was pink. Pink hair, pink skin, pink dress. She has a wonderful smile, and smells sweet. Sorta like, like-
"Well, let's just say that it was fifty percent my fault and fifty percent yours. I'm Princess Bubblegum."
Ding ding ding! That's it! Bubblegum. She's made of bubblegum! And her name is-
"Wait, your Princess Bubblegum?!" I say.
"Yes, you are correct." she says.
"THE Princess Bubblegum." I continue in marvel, "The Candy Kingdom ruler."
"Yes," she says, "It's a tough job. But I love it. I was meant to be a ruler. Plus I always have science, which relaxes me."
"Wait-" I say grinning, "Your a science nerd?"
She smiles and blushes.
"I do not like the word 'nerd' " she says, "I prefer the word 'enthusiast' "
"Okay, we'll hi there 'science enthusiast'," I put my hand out, "I'm Marceline the Vampire Queen. But you can call me Marceline."
"Well greetings Marceline," she says, "It's a pleasure."
We shake hands, and I can swear an electric current passes through us. She doesn't seem to notice though.
"So," I say, "Pb, if I can call you that?"
"That is quite fine." she replies politely.
"Okay," I say, "Pb, why aren't you out, ya know, 'socializing'. "
"Oh, I was not planning to." she says, "My job is to plan this whole thing. I was just thinking about spending a quiet night with my books."
"C'mon!" I say, for some lumpin reason now enthusiastic, "You can't work hard to plan this shindig and then sit around all night with boring books. Why don't you dance with me?"
"Well…" she says in a thinking expression that I find cute. Wait, did I just say 'CUTE'? Ah, whatever.
"I suppose just one dance…" she says,
"Totally!" I say, grabbing her arm and tugging her towards the dance floor, "Let's break out some funky moves!"
We dance freely on the ballroom floor of the castle. We grab each other, being silly and wild. She's starting to break loose of that "formal" shell, yet still remaining herself. I find it quite… charming. Charming? Is that the right word?
Soon the music starts to wind down from a fun song to a love song. Do we slow dance? I can feel the awkward air around us, and apparently Pb does do because she says,
"Um… do you want to go out to the balcony with me?"
Of course I say yes. Why do I want to spend time with her? Does she fascinate me? Does she do something more to me?
We head out to the large balcony, closing the glass doors behind us. Then we just… talk. We talk about anything really. Worst food to have to take a bite out of every day, longest amount of time we've spent without listening to music. Then things get a bit… serious. She starts to talk about the pressure of ruling a kingdom. In return I talk just a little bit about how hard it is to live forever, but while I do so she seems to be thinking something, but she never lets it on. There's definitely a lot of angst, but there's a lot of laughs to.
Then the clock strikes midnight.
She says she has to go, but I don't want her to leave.
I don't ever want to stop talking to her.
But I'm about to let her go, when suddenly I feel something sugary on my lips. It takes me a while to realize what the lump is even going on. I know heat would rush to my face if I wasn't dead. Yet somehow I still feel hot. Everything else seems to disappear, but I don't globbing care, glob globbit. I just want to have this moment last forever, to keep kissing this beautiful pink lady, but much to soon she pulls away.
She stares at me for just a moment, then walks away and back in to the castle. As she does I put my hand to my lips, not sure if what just happened was real.
