AN: I don't own "Adventure Time with Finn and Jake", nor do I own Marshall Lee or Prince Gumball. Though Lord knows what I would do to with those boys. Hahahaha.
Hi?, Yo!, What's up?! My first One-Shot for Adventure Time! So exciting, isn't it? Although I must admit, I'm really fairly new to the fandom, so please forgive me if I murder your favorite characters with my mediocre ideas. Haha! Just kidding. Sorta. Anyway, this first try at a Gumlee/Marball/whatever the hell this ship is called (somebody please inform me) was inspired by the song 'Gravity' by Sara Bareilles so it's pretty self explanatory. Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think. I know there is always room for improvement!
It was an exceptionally gloomy day, with dark clouds overcast the Candy Kingdom in the Land of Aaa. Most of the subjects within the Kingdom, who would usually be out and about, were stuck inside of their homes. The city's usual hustle and bustle wasn't present during these rainy days, and it gave the city a quiet and stale air. Prince Gumball, ruler of the Candy Kingdom and all of it's Candy People, rushed to the back of the Royal Kitchen as the timer inside of his oven repeatedly rang with a clear DING!
"Oh, dirtballs! My pastries!" Gumball cried, with a frantic yell. He opened the oven door, quite used to the wave of heat that always grazed past his face, and reached for the burnt puff pastries of what would have been perfectly baked cream puffs. He placed the tray of ruined pastries on the counter across from the oven with a huff and ran back to his special pink cream that he was whipping in the counter top mixer. Looking down into his concoction, he sighed. He was sure he had set the timer for only twenty minutes, but it seemed that the bell had gone off later than he had expected.
"I suppose I will just have to whip up a new batch of puffs." He said to himself with a defeated tone and a scratch of his head. It wasn't like him to mess up a recipe. Especially when it came to baking, which was his favorite hobby. As a Prince of a very large Kingdom, it was hard for him to find free time, and since baking was a 'waiting game' of sorts, Gumball could get a lot of baking done in between his leisure and work. He learned to love the art, enjoying most when his treats could be shared with his friends and subjects.
Due to the circumstances of the weather that day, there wasn't much work to be done in the Kingdom. Most Candy People found the rain to be a nuisance, and hardly ever welcomed it when it decided to grace the skies of their sweet streets. Contrary to the popular opinion of his subjects though, Gumball rather liked rainy days. There was almost no work to be done on these days, and he could spend most of them in the way that he liked: dressed comfortably and running around the kitchen baking sweets. He adorned himself with a simple but cozy pair of pink pajama pants, a white t-shirt with a pink hoodie and a cute apron over top. He kept his crown on, afraid to ever let it, along with the jewel, out of his sight. Stopping the mixer to check the consistency of his cream, he dipped his finger into the bowl and scooped out a good amount. He sucked the cream off of his finger and decided that it was just at the right consistency and sweetness.
"Oh, glob...!"
Gumball turned around, almost sure he had heard a voice behind him, only to find that nothing was there. It could get lonely in the castle, and it wasn't unheard of for Gumball to sometimes imagine someone was there to keep him company. With a shrug, he went over to the counter again to clean off his baking tray, and start anew with a fresh batch of dough. He brought the tray around the counter and dumped all of the ruined puffs into a trash bin. Whistling a happy tune, he brought the tray over to the sink to rinse it off. He looked out through the window as he rinsed the baking sheet. Even though most of his Kingdom looked and felt gloomy today, Gumball felt most at ease when it rained. He suddenly felt a slight twinge of guilt, thinking about how he was indulging himself with his baking as his subjects suffered. He was a Prince after all. It was his duty to always serve his Kingdom, before himself, and represent in the most fair and balanced way. He would protect his citizens, whom he loved so much, even at the cost of his own freedom. Or so he liked to think.
Gumball brushed his guilt away, knowing full well that he would have to thrust himself into work again tomorrow, he sighed and proceeded to dry the tray off with a towel. As he turned back toward the counter to clear a work space, he widened his eyes at the sight of his mixer turning itself on. The knobs seemed to turn magically by themselves to the highest speed and as the machine was switched on, Gumball, dropping the tray, ducked to the ground. As the mixer spun at its highest intensity, it flew pink whipped cream all over the kitchen walls, floor and ceiling. He heard another yell. It was definitely the same voice from before.
"What the lump is going on here?! Who's there!?" Gumball yelled out, crawling across the floor in an attempt to unplug the mixer and cut the power. He felt a quick breeze pass by him and as the breeze passed, Gumball tried to catch sight of who or what it was. Seeing a familiar floating silhouette doused in pink whipped cream, Gumball's expression suddenly went dull. He blatantly unplugged his mixer and stood up, trying to clean himself off.
"Marshall! What is the meaning of this?" Gumball inquired of the still invisible figure, with hands on his hips.
"Yeah, yeah, cool it. I was just messin'."
As if out of thin air, Marshall Lee materialized into his visible form. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow in the cocky way that he did. Somehow he still managed to look cool, despite being covered in pink whipped cream. He gave Gumball a kind of devilish smile as he floated in the air. He looked up and down at Gumball and smirked, as if to make fun of the unusually casual attire that he was in.
"What? What is it?"
"Haha, it's nothing." Marshall laughed. Gumball rolled his eyes and turned around, continuing to nitpick at his outfit.
"Hey." Marshall tried to get Gumball's attention, but it was now to no avail.
"Hello...? Marshall to Gumball? Can I get a what-what?" Marshall jeered at Gumball again, but Gumball simply walked over to the sink to grab a rag. He was intent on ignoring him and tried to make it obvious that he was unwelcome company.
"Haha, dude, come on. You can't ignore me forever. And believe me, I've got all the time in the world." Marshall tried in a convincing tone, floating in the air as if he was lounging on his futon at home. When he got no response, he peeked down with one eye to find Gumball on the floor, already scrubbing away trying to clean up the horrid mess. Gumball still kept his mouth shut. Marshall frowned at this. Now it was him who wasn't amused. He focused his sights onto Gumball's crown, and swooped on in for the taking.
"Hey! Marshall, return that to me this instant!" Gumball commanded, standing up to try to get to Marshall's level. Marshall obliged by landing on the ground, but still held the crown high up in the air, smiling as he held it just out of Gumball's reach.
"Haha, so this is how I have to get your attention, huh? What's up with the crown anyway? You surely don't look your usual prince-y self today." Marshall teased, bobbing the crown up and down with his fingers. Gumball jumped, knocking Marshall in the side and successfully retrieving his crown.
"Ow! Dude. Uncalled for." Marshall dramatically rubbed his side, squinting and groaning to make his pain seem convincing.
"Never touch my crown again." Gumball glared at Marshall with intensity and spoke with a serious tone. The sudden change in personality almost scared Marshall. Almost.
"What is with you and that crown?" Marshall went back to floating and brought his arms back behind his head. Gumball went back to scrubbing the floor.
"This crown has been passed down in my family for generations. It's a powerful symbol of Royalty and Leadership. Something you wouldn't understand." Gumball scrubbed harder, making it obvious that he was getting riled up. Marshall scoffed.
"Heh, I still don't get it. Whether you have a crown or not, that doesn't mean you know much more about Leadership than me or anyone else." Marshall brought his hands up in a shrug.
"Shut it, Marshall. You don't know what this crown means to me. It has given me responsibility. It gives the people hope. You on the other hand...You just run from your responsibilities like a little kid. You let your mother handle all of your work in the Nightosphere, while you fly about, causing ruckus for who knows what. If anyone here has the upper hand in leadership, it would be me." Gumball turned to look up at Marshall who was still casually floating around the kitchen, crossing his legs as if he didn't have a care in the world.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, please forgive me your highness. It must be so hard to live this Royal life of yours. I mean look at you, you have this whole castle to yourself, and so many adoring fans and subjects. It really must be such a hard life." Marshall landed on the kitchen floor and gave a fake bow. Gumball got up to rinse his rag, ignoring Marshall's jeers and rolling his eyes.
"Tch! I know what you think of me...you wouldn't really know me though, would you Marshall? But I know you. It's obvious from your childish acts of immaturity that you're trying to get to know me, to understand why it is that I can't stand you, but it's exactly that annoying round about carefree way you have of doing things that pisses me off." It was Marshall's turn to roll his eyes. He had heard all of this before. Everyone told him that he should fix his attitude. He was used to it. He didn't care. Or at least he didn't like to admit to caring about it. It was just the way he was, it was hard for him to be so straightforward.
"I don't know you? Really? I, of all people-" Marshall cut himself off, suddenly realizing that he was wasting his time. It was obvious that Gumball just simply wasn't going to give him the time of day, and he wasn't about to be the first to try and work things out between them. If there even was anything anymore.
"You know what Bubba? I don't even know why I came here. This whole situation is ducks. I'm outta here." Marshall proceeded to fly off but he was abruptly stopped when he felt a huge dollop of cream hit the back of his head. He turned around in mid-air, hissing towards the direction from which the cream flew.
"Oh no you don't! You're gonna stay here and help me clean this up. You're the whole reason this "situation" even presented itself before us, so you're lucky I'm even helping you out. You need to learn how to clean up after yourself." Gumball retorted, wiping pink cream from his fingers with another rag, and throwing it up to Marshall. Marshall caught the rag and glared at Gumball, but decided that he should help out anyway. Thinking about it, the fault of the situation really was mostly on him. As far as the mess went, anyway. Marshall muttered some inaudible words to himself as he levitated up to the ceiling to get rid of what was up there. The two continued to work and clean in an awkward silence, only the sounds of their scrubbing disturbing what would have been an eerie quiet. Marshall couldn't stand for it to be so quiet for so long, so he broke the silence.
"It's too quiet in here, Bubba. Where did everyone go?" Marshall Lee asked out loud as he levitated to another corner of the ceiling. Gumball got down onto his knees again to try and clean up a spot that he had missed.
"Not sure. They're probably all at home, hiding from the rain. You know we Candy People don't like to get wet..." Gumball, much to Marshall's surprise, replied in a calm tone. Marshall turned back to take a look at Gumball, and it seemed that he had calmed down.
"...I-I haven't heard you use my first name in a long time.." Gumball suddenly declared as he stood up and turned to start on the walls. Marshall moved to another corner.
"Yeah, well, It's been a long time since we last were able to hang out. Lately all you do is ignore me. I mean, I can't even talk to you, and you already get all riled up." Marshall replied, trying to speed up his cleaning process.
"That's because I already know what you're going to do. You just mess around with everyone. Nobody can ever be serious around you because you are always trying so hard to be funny and junk. I mean look at this whole flippin' mess. And not to mention my cream puffs. They would've been just fine if you didn't mess with the timer. It just irritates me the way you act. How can you be so carefree...?" Gumball hesitantly asked, more rhetorically than seriously.
"I dunno. Maybe because it's fun? Working all the time is for losers. You can lose yourself so easily if you just act serious all the time like you do. Of course I have worries, it's not that I'm so carefree like you think. I just tend to deal with those troubles in a better and more fun way. Sometimes you really do have to "not care" and let the problems pass you. Just do what you want." Marshall was on the ground and had stopped scrubbing. He leaned back onto the counter top.
"Well that's easy for you to say. I have responsibilities. I can't just do what I want all the time. Believe me. Sometimes, I would if I could. But again, you wouldn't understand. I mean you say you have problems, but aren't they all just of your own accord? I mean always doing 'just what you want' doesn't cut it for real life. What problems could you possibly have that aren't 'caused from your own selfish wants?" Gumball turned around and looked at Marshall blankly, still more annoyed than angry at this point.
"I have plenty of 'em. Like you for instance. You hate me, and I have no idea why. It's not like I want you to hate me or anything. We used to be tight, Bubba. Ever since you had to start your Royal duties, you've treated me differently..." Marshall trailed off, inching closer to Gumball.
"Oh honestly, I do not hate you. I just told you, it's just the way that you act that irritates me." Gumball rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, looking away and not refusing Marshall's advances.
"From the way you act, I'm definitely not your friend either, am I? So I just have to automatically assume that I'm your enemy or that you hate me or something." Marshall was now standing directly next to Gumball and they both leaned back against the counter top.
"Well...that's not true. It's just that...honestly...my duties as a Prince don't really allow for me to have any enemies or even friends. You're neither friend or foe. But...I just can't seem to let you go..." Gumball turned to face Marshall and Marshall's eyes widened. Marshall gulped and brushed his bangs to the side of his face, blushing just the slightest bit.
"Ah-a...I'm not really going anywhere, you know? You can let go, or whatever that means,...'cause I won't go anywhere." Marshall spoke hesitantly and awkwardly, not fully understanding where Gumball was taking the conversation.
"Would that really be OK with you? If I really did just...let go?" Gumball sank down to his knees, curling them up to his chest. He took his crown off of his head and started to stroke the jewel repeatedly with his thumb. He was so caught in between his duties and responsibilities and his wants. It wasn't the first time in his life that he had thought of giving up. If he did, he would have all the time in the world for his friends. He could just bake, and enjoy life and good company. But at the same time, he couldn't imagine ever not being a ruler. His people needed him, just as he needed them. He was born to be a ruler. It was in his blood.
"Whoa. Things just got real didn't they?" Marshall teased, in an attempt to make Gumball smile. Gumball replied only with a tiny nod which wasn't something that Marshall was expecting. He also sank down to the ground, to get onto eye level with Gumball.
"Dude. Listen." Marshall became serious, but Gumball continued to look away blankly. Marshall took Gumball's chin in his hands and pulled so that his gaze would match his.
"Listen to me! ...I'm sorry, OK? I know I mess around a lot and I'm not exactly serious most of the time and junk but I only do that because it's just easier. To be honest I really do respect you. I know how hard it can be to be a ruler. Believe me, that's why I gave up..." Marshall trailed off and let go of Gumball's chin. Gumball sat up and looked at Marshall, listening intently.
"...Just...don't lose hope. All that funky junk about you not being able to have friends or enemies or whatever is complete cabbage man. You have to be poo brained to believe that you don't have friends, Bubba. And that's including me. Honestly, you should always remember that I was and always will be...your...friend..." Marshall's voice softened and as he spoke each word, he licked his lips. He realized that he couldn't hold back any longer. In an instant, he brought Gumball towards himself and crashed their lips together. Out of shock, Gumball opened his mouth to let out a scream, but Marshall took the opportunity to close the gap between them and explore Gumball like he never had before.
Slowly, Gumball's tense body started to ease up and he even let out a small sigh as they continued to kiss. Marshall brought his arm's down to Gumball's hips, practically pulling him up onto his lap and Gumball obliged by bringing his arms up around Marshall's neck. Marshall began to ravish Gumball's sweet lips, sucking and even biting them, to which Gumball responded with small moans. Marshall moved his way down to his neck, breathing in Gumball's intoxicating scent. He was ready to just take a bite out of Gumball's smooth and perfect skin and suck him dry. Instead, he breathed in the scent once more and bucked his hips up as Gumball adjusted his place in Marshall's lap. Gumball could feel Marshall's member through his jeans and moaned as he let his head drop down onto Marshall's shoulder. It felt so good to be able to let go in a way that he didn't really think was possible. But that was just it. It was impossible.
'No. This can't be happening...' Gumball thought to himself. He suddenly pushed himself away from Marshall, grabbing his shoulders, but still keeping himself straddled on top of Marshall's hips.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Marshall asked, half bewildered, half aroused.
"We shouldn't be doing this. We really shouldn't." Gumball replied, hands still on Marshall's shoulders.
"But you want to...don't you?" Marshall asked.
"No!...I mean...y-yeah...I...I don't know." Gumball blushed and looked away. Marshall looked down and grabbed at Gumball's crotch. Gumball yelped and put his head down onto Marshall's shoulder again.
"Your friend here seems to tell me otherwise. If this is what you want, just go with it." Marshall said convincingly. Gumball laughed. And then his heart dropped. 'Is this what I want?' he thought to himself. 'It couldn't be, could it?'. Gumball was realizing that if this was what he really wanted all along, it would be pretty much impossible to continue his responsibilities as a Prince. He just knew that his subjects wouldn't agree to this kind of relationship. Suddenly the tears just wouldn't stop. Marshall, sort of at a loss for what to do, just stroked Gumball's head.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry. A-ah I'm such a coward. In so many ways..." Gumball choked out, leaning in as close as he could to Marshall. Marshall only continued to shush Gumball and stroke his head. He continued to cry, realizing that he had built up more stress than he had thought, and began to just let go like Marshall had told him to. As the tears rolled, Marshall's embrace became tighter around him, and he both immensely feared and enjoyed the strange feeling. He wanted to stay there, almost drown himself in these feelings, but he realized he couldn't as his tears were running dry. Eventually, he buried himself into Marshall's neck, and stayed quiet for a couple minutes, just not ready to respond. He just wanted to be within Marshall's gravity. Feel it all around and all over him.
"So have you calmed down a bit?" Marshall asked quietly, looking down at Gumball and kissing his forehead.
"I...Yeah...I'm ok." Gumball replied softly.
"Listen Bubba. I know you're scared. This is all really new to me too. But if you're feeling what I'm feeling right now...then you know that this is something good. Something that we can't lose. I'm not saying we commit ourselves or anything, because I know both you and I still need time to figure this out, but...this just feels right. Doesn't it?" Marshall spoke to Gumball as he stroked his cheek with his right hand, while the left was laced into one of Gumball's hands. Gumball nodded in response, and placed a chaste kiss onto Marshall's neck.
"Let's just take this slow. There is no need to rush. We can just enjoy each other for today, and worry about everything else later." Marshall spoke again to reassure Gumball. They both somehow knew, despite how scary it was to start a romantic relationship, that things were going to be OK from then on. The pair sat there, still covered in whipped cream, on the tile of the Royal Kitchen floor, stuck in an embrace that felt stronger than anything they had ever felt before. An invisible bond, wrapping the two of them in a warm and unfamiliar aura. The rain continued to patter down onto the window, as they held each other on that gloomy day. But things were OK, as they fell, moment after moment, into each others gravity.
