Chapter 1: Creep

Fionna's POV

I look up at the late summer sky. It was its usual blue, with some clouds here and there, and the sun burned my eyes if I looked at it too long, so I end up looking away. I swing my sword around skillfully, and I put it on my shoulder, breathing in the warm air, looking over the rolling hills in front of me. After a day of hard adventuring in Aaa and defeating numerous monsters, I was ready to just relax for a bit. Cake had already gone home and left me to my own devices. Something about getting ready for a date with Mochro. I scoffed and rolled my eyes just thinking about their relationship. Lord Monochromicorn tended to pretend I wasn't really there, which was actually fine by me, I'd prefer that he forgot I was there. And the fact that I couldn't understand what he was saying really annoyed me. But, if Cake was happy with him, then whatever.

Sometimes I wish I had a boyfriend, but then again, relationships seemed to need a lot of maintenance. I was glad that guys weren't fighting over me (or at least as far as she knew none were), I thought it would be stupid. I wasn't anything special anyways. Just a normal 16-year-old girl who loved to adventure all over Aaa with Cake.

Trying to decide whether or not to go to Marshall Lee's house for a jam session, I let my feet take me where they want. I closed my eyes and tilted my face towards the sun, walking in a random direction. The sun felt nice on my skin after fighting the last monster, a slime beast. I almost wanted to go home and take a shower or something, but I decided that I would just jump in the nearest pond and get the slime off. Fortunately, I could see one from where I was. It wasn't terribly late in the day, and at least I had had the foresight to bring an extra pair of clothes in my bag, so I wouldn't have to wait for these to dry. I did a sort-of jog over to the pond, looked around self-consciously (although there was a bit of tree protection, thankfully), dropped my bag a few feet away from the water, took my shoes, socks, and beloved bunny hat off, and hopped in the water. I pulled my shirt off and tossed it out of the water quickly, followed by my skirt. Then I just kind of floated in the water, letting the slime come off as it pleased. I looked up through the canopy of tree leaves and saw the sun peeking at me above the leaves, and I smiled, letting it warm my skin where it got through the foliage.

After about a half hour of this floating and subconscious thinking, I heard the leaves rustle and a twig snap. Quickly getting to the edge of the pond closest to my bag, I called out, "Who's there?", only to be answered by silence. After about another minute of silence, I relaxed. 'Probably just an innocent animal,' I tell myself calmly. I dive under the water again, shaking out my hair underwater, and surface again. Getting out of the water, I attempted to dry off a little bit, and when I wasn't completely soaked, I put on my extra clothes, and pulled on my worn-out shoes again. I pick up my bunny-eared hat, stuff my hair in, and get it over my head. I think about leaving my slime-covered clothes behind, but decide against it and pick them up with a sigh. After hearing more rustling and a loud crunch, I couldn't quite shake the feeling that I was being watched as I walked away quickly towards Marshall Lee's house.

When I finally got there, the sun was making its way down the sky. I walked up to Marshall's porch and knocked loudly, tossing my slimed clothes over the side of the porch, resolving to pick them up when I was leaving. I waited for a minute, and after no reply, I decided to just walk in. Not like I'd never done it before.

I put my bag down by his couch and go straight to the kitchen, thirsty. I open his fridge and was disappointed that there was only strawberries, apples, and cherries in there. I growl quietly under my breath. 'He has to drink something, doesn't he?' I wondered. 'He only eats the color red, he doesn't drink it, right?' I pondered on this for a minute before shutting the fridge with frustrated finality. When I turn around, I am somewhat startled to see Marshall Lee right there, inches away. His hair was a mess, so he must've just woken up. He was also only in his boxers, so that definitely seemed to prove my point.

"What's up, Fi?" he asked with a loud yawn.

"Oh, nothing, just stopping by. Did you just wake up?" I ask with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I did. But I heard someone down here in my fridge, so I decided it was time to make an appearance," he says with another yawn.

"Some appearance," I mutter under my breath and then laugh. "You look like a chicken nested up there."

That opens his eyes a little bit more, and he gives me an 'oh, shut up,' look before stomping upstairs childishly. When he comes back down, now fully dressed with his hair combed through, I am sitting in front of his couch, fiddling with a random toy in my hands. When I see him come down, I put it back in my bag. "Whatcha wanna do?" I asks lazily.

"Not sure, still tired," he mumbles. He floats over and punches my shoulder lightly. "Give me a minute to wake up, Bunny," he teases.

I return the light punch to his stomach and mutter, "Fine," before I put my head back on his couch tiredly.

"Big day of adventuring?" he questions with a smirk.

"Yes. What did you do, sleep all day?" I retort.

"Yep, pretty much, wrote a few songs for Gumbutt's ball tomorrow early this morning, but other than that, you're dead on, Bunny," he chuckles, playing with one of my bunny ears while he speaks.

I make a sound of contentment and close my eyes for a minute. 'Why do people always like playing with my bunny ears?' I wonder. "Wanna watch a movie?" I question.

He rolls his head lazily towards me, giving me a once-over, and gives me a look that suggests he decided I won't be able to do anything else anyways. "Sure, why not, Bunny?" He gets up and floats towards the stairs. "Whatcha wanna watch?"

"I don't even care right now," I reply with a slight scowl. He chuckles at me and floats upstairs, returning a minute later with a movie in his hand. "What's that?"

Marshall's POV

"One with tons of adventure and junk," I tell her with a grin.

"Mathematical," she says with a tired smile. She looks at the cover when I hand it to her after I get the movie out and start it. "Pirates of the Caribbean?" she questions.

"You'll love it," I tell her with a chuckle, flicking the lights out. Fionna twitches around and gives up, flipping over on her stomach facing the TV. I try not to look down and focus on the movie, but really, the girl needs to get longer skirts. I sigh inwardly and float over to the kitchen to get some strawberries and cherries to distract myself. "Do you want anything?" I call to Fionna quietly, not wanting to disturb her movie-watching.

It takes me a minute to catch her small reply, but I hear a quiet, "Popcorn?" and set to making some quickly. I come back out a minute later with two bowls in my hands, putting the popcorn in front of her and taking the red fruit for myself. I float lazily over the couch, with my head turned towards the TV, sucking the red out of the fruit. Fionna looks like she's completely sucked into the movie, eating popcorn absently. I chuckle and return to the movie. A little while later, Fionna yawns and says, "I know this sounds kinda weird, but Captain Jack Sparrow is cute."

I look at her, chuckling, and say, "Oh, so you like the older men, do you?" with a teasing look.

She flushes and looks back at me. "Well, it depends on how they act. He's pretty funny, and he's always drunk, but he certainly knows how to fight.

'I wonder if she ever thinks that I'm cute...' I ponder it for a second and then facepalm quietly. 'What are you thinking, it doesn't matter in any case, you idiot. It's not like you like her like that, right?' I sigh, and it must've been out loud because Fi looks back at me with a questioning look. I shake my head and smirk at her, and she turns her attention back to the movie. I continue eating my strawberries and cherries, and when I'm full, I go to the kitchen and return the ones that are still red to the bowl in the fridge and drop the bowl with all the gray husks in them next to Fi. Apparently they taste pretty much the same without their color. She smiles at me, and I float back over to the couch, sighing happily. The movie is nearly over when I notice that Fi is looking pretty tired, and she's pretty much out. I float over and pick her up so she doesn't get an ache when she wakes up.

She rolls closer to me and curls up with a tired mewl. "Wuh are you doin?" she slurs.

I chuckle quietly and say, "I'm saving you from pain later." I carry her upstairs and hand her a shirt to change into, it can't be comfortable to sleep in that skirt. I walk out of the room for a minute to let her change, and walk back in to tuck her in, then go to walk out again.

She opens her bleary eyes. "Where are you going?"

I blink at her in surprise. "I'm gonna go downstairs and let you sleep, Bunny. Why?"

"Dun go anywhere," she mumbles sleepily. I deliberate for a minute and sigh silently. I grab the chair from the corner of my room and slide it a little bit closer to the bed. When I go to sit down, she shakes her head and tells me to come closer. So I slide it closer, but it's still not enough for her. I put it as close to the bed as possible, and she smiles.

"Better, Bunny?" I croon. She nods, and I lean forward and kiss her forehead. "Go to sleep now, Bunny." I lean back and sing quietly, hoping she'll be out of it soon. When I hear her snore very lightly, I chuckle quietly and slip out of the room. I decide to go ahead and clean up the living room, so I take her empty popcorn bowl and the nearly-empty bowl of fruit to the kitchen, and flick a light on. I dump what's left of the fruit out the nearest window and put both of the bowls in the sink, deciding to clean them later. I go to the living room, stop the movie, and put it back in its case, leaving it on the coffee table afterwards.

I grab my axe bass and go outside, where a slightly cool breeze has picked up. I look at the moon from inside my cave and smile. Then I start strumming my bass and humming along without a point to it. It was just nice to feel the breeze after being stuffed in the house. Normally, I'd be all over Aaa, causing trouble and pulling pranks on Gumbutt and freaking out Cake, but for some reason I wanted to stay close to home. I wasn't really sure why, but I didn't linger on it, not really caring. After a while, I decided to write some more songs for Gumbutt's ball tomorrow. After all, I was the only entertainment. I played around with the beat until I got it right, and started singing quietly.

When you were here before

Couldn't look you in the eye

You're just like an angel

Your skin makes me cry

You float like a feather

In a beautiful world

I wish I was special

You're so fucking special

But I'm a creep

I'm a weirdo

What the hell am I doing here?

I don't belong here

I don't care if it hurts

I want to have control

I want a perfect body

I want a perfect soul

I want you to notice when I'm not around

You're so fucking special

I wish I was special

But I'm a creep

I'm a weirdo

What the hell I'm doing here?

I don't belong here

She's running out the door

She's running out

She runs runs runs runs

Runs

Runs

Whatever makes you happy

Whatever you want

You're fucking special

I wish I was special

But I'm a creep

I'm a weirdo

What the hell am I doing here?

I don't belong here

I don't belong here

I paused and thought about what the hell I just sang. Where did those words come from? The next thing I do surprises me as well. I snap my attention to my room, praying to glob that Fi didn't just hear that. Then I thought about that. Why the hell did I care if she'd heard me sing? She'd heard me sing a thousand times before. What the hell is going on? I go inside and quickly write the lyrics down and read over them, and then facepalm myself so hard I have to take a step back and shake my hand. Ouch. I read over them again, and wonder, why am I writing this? I don't feel like this towards anyone. ... Do I? I think about it for a while, and all of a sudden, my mind just flips itself over and starts thinking about Fi. Fionna, Fionna, Fionna, over and over and over again in my head. I'm so shocked about this sudden realization that all I can do is sit there and think some more.

What the hell?

I don't even realize that I've been sitting here literally all night thinking about this until I notice the sun out of the corner of my eye.

WHAT THE HELL?!

I never told the sun it could rise! What is it doing?! I'm frantically floating all over my living room, trying to figure this out. 'There's no way I'm in love with Fi.' That is not a logical thought. She's a human, so soft, so fragile, so innocent, so pure...

And hopelessly mortal.

Where did this come from? How could I fall in love with her, or even develop a slight crush on her, without my own consent? When did this happen? Have I actually been crushing on her up until this point, not even realizing it?

These things are running through my mind so loudly that I don't even notice Fi come downstairs until she punches me in the shoulder from behind. I literally jump and yelp. I turn around slowly, and she's looking at me, wide-eyed. "Are you okay, Marsh? You were kinda curled up in this corner when I came downstairs, and you didn't say anything, even though I was saying your name for literally two minutes. I tapped you on the shoulder and you still didn't reply. I'm surprised you even turned around when I punched you..." She pauses and looks at me, and I must've had a strange expression on, because her eyes widened even more and she asks, "What's wrong?"

I attempt to clear my throat, but it's surprisingly dry, so I float quickly to the kitchen and get a cup of water to help. She follows me quietly with a worried expression. I cough a couple times and look at her. "Yeah, I'm fine." I clear my throat again, not trusting my voice. "When did you wake up? Sorry I scared you."

"A few minutes ago..." She pauses and looks at me. "Are you sure you're okay? You looked like you were terrified or something."

I sputter indignantly and laugh. "Me? Terrified? Not in a thousand years."

Fi rolls her eyes at me. "Okay, fine. I probably should get going, Cake will be worried about me since I didn't go home last night..."

"Ah, okay, Fi. Might wanna change though," I say with a smirk.

She looks down. "When did this happen?"

I cock my head to the side slightly. "Last night, Bunny. I took you upstairs and let you change, because it can't be too comfortable sleeping in those clothes you wear all day."

"Oh," is all she replies before she goes back upstairs to change and rushes down a minute later, dressed normally. She grabs her bag and throws a smile over her shoulder before walking out the door quickly with a quick, "Bye Marsh!" and then she grabs something off the side of my porch, and she's gone.

'How is all this possible?' My brain demands. 'I don't even know,' I reply stupidly before grabbing my bass to make some more music for the ball tonight.