My first Sugarless Gum fic. Just a drabble for now.
A pale, grey hand strokes idly down your pink hair. Stroking your scalp, brushing against your ears, Marceline mindlessly hums as the two of you lie under a massive maple tree. Your back is resting against her chest, hips fitting between her splayed legs. A cool night breeze tickles your face and raises goosebumps on your bare arms. The stars twinkle overhead, winking at you through the darkness. Marceline notices you shiver a bit, and offers you her sweatshirt. "I don't need it," she insists. "I barely feel the cold." You accept, and slide the black garment over your head. Marceline giggles at the sight of your mussed-up hair, and you make a face. You turn to face her, and she slides further onto the ground. She's on her back now, and you rest there, stomach to stomach. Your head is tucked under her chin, and you pepper small kisses to her jawline. Marceline chuckles, a sudden though coming to her mind. "Bonni, do you remember our first kiss?"
You bustle around your lab, white coat stained with various chemicals. You've just reached the age of sixteen, and you're working on a concoction that would help some of the candied banana guards have a tougher peel. There had been a pack of whywolves spotted in the nearby forest, and you didn't want to take any chances. Pushing your goggles up on to your forehead, you sigh and rub your temples; a melted and smoldering pile of who-knows-what lying in front of you on the lab table. That's the fourth one that's failed today. You grab a pencil and begin to scribble down another possible equation for the next batch when you hear a smash. Whirling around, startled, you see none other than the Vampire Queen herself, standing over a broken beaker. "I totally did not do that on purpose." She says, smiling sheepishly. You roll your eyes, and reply, "You're lucky there wasn't anything dangerous in there," and she shrugs. The girl had been gone for three weeks and you were happy to see her. Your best friend floats over to you, peeking at what you've been working on. "So whatcha up to, Bonnibel?" She inquires. You explain briefly about the whywolves. "I could probably shoo 'em off for you. I mean, if you wanted." Marceline says.
Smiling, you thank Marceline for her offer. You sit down at the bench and finish the equation. Marceline pokes around the lab a bit, occasionally asking what this chemical does and why is this dissolving the metal fastener on her leather jacket. Once, she attempts to light a cigarette for herself, but you berate her about how it could set off a fire or explosion. Finally, she huffs and rests her chin on your shoulder, ebony hair tickling your neck. Your heart skips a beat at how close she is to you. "Bonni, it's nearly midnight. Shouldn't you be getting to bed by now?" You shake your head.
"I've been in here since seven in the morning, and I haven't made a bit of leeway. I can't abandon my project now!"
"You wouldn't be abandoning it at all. Just go to sleep, I mean those bags under your eyes are, like, super crazy."
You shoot her a small glare and she holds up her hands defensively, mumbling something about just making an observation. "But seriously. Go to bed, dude. You're mad exhausted." You open your mouth to speak but she shushes you. Putting her arms under yours, she hefts you up and off the lab bench. While you protest, she adjusts you so you're lying in her arms bridal style, and your face reddens at the contact. She proceeds to float you back to your bedroom in such fashion.
When you arrive in your quarters, she finally lets you down. You huff and spread out the wrinkles in your lab coat. She smiles. "For your own good," Marceline says. You unbutton your coat so you're left in a simple fuchsia dress, when Marceline pulls out a black t-shirt that was hanging out of the back pocket of her ripped, dark grey jeans. "I, um, got this for you." She says, handing you the shirt. You take it and hold it up to see the design. Two marshmallows impaled on sticks, rising up above a yellow snake. You raise your eyebrows to the vampire. "I was at a concert and I thought you might like it.." she trails off, scratching the back of her head. You flash her a smile. "Thank you, Marcy." You step into your large closet and change into pink pajama pants, and after a moment of consideration, slip Marceline's shirt over your head. You walk out and see Marceline sitting on your bed, and join her.
"So, why are you so stressed?" She asks after a moment of you two just lying on your bed, next to the balcony. You rolled over to face her, and her crimson eyes connect with yours. "Ruling this place is hard." You reply. She nods. "I'm only sixteen, but I have to run this whole kingdom by myself. It takes a toll on a princess. Not to mention, I have to finish that experiment because I don't want to lose any more of my men to the wolves." You stretch, feeling your back crack and pop. You grunt a little and Marceline motions for you to sit up. You comply, and she scoots behind you.
Her cool hands rest upon your lower back and she applies pressure. You close your eyes as she massages your sore muscles. Every few moments you would say "harder," "lower," or "higher." As her hands glide up your back, she brushes your hair from the back of your neck. Her thumbs move in circles on the start of your spine. "So what were you doing while you were away?" You ask, genuinely curious. Marceline rarely left for that long without notice. "Oh, just doing some thinking," she says idly.
"About what?"
"Nothing in particular, really."
"Marcy?"
"Hm?"
"Were you spending time with a guy?"
A bit taken aback, but not stopping the motion of her hands upon your muscles, she replies. "What makes you think that?" You shrug. "Well, ever since Ash-" she cuts you off. "We don't ever talk about him." You nod in apology. "You've just been single for a while, I suppose. I thought maybe you'd found someone, since you just up and went off like that."
"C'mon Bubblegum, you know I wouldn't just leave my best friend for some dude! I would totes tell you beforehand." Giggling, you smile. "Well, then is there anyone that has caught your eye?" Marceline shakes her head, a small blush spreading across her face even with the absence of blood.
"…Nah.."
"Lies."
"What?"
"I can tell by that obvious pause! There is someone you like. Oh, is it that ghost prince I've seen around?"
"No, Bonni, it's not the ghost prince."
"I saw a few flame warriors around the other day, is it one of them?"
"Nope."
"Then who?"
"Just this girl."
Your eyes widen a bit, a small flicker of hope drumming to life in your chest. "Oh, I didn't know you liked girls." You comment. "Well, I didn't really think it mattered much." Your head bobs in agreement and you sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes. It's broken when you ask, "What is she like?" Marceline makes a confused sound in her throat. "The girl you like."
"Oh. Well, for starters she's gorgeous. Um, she's real smart too. The smartest person I've ever met, probably. She's super geeky about science. It's really cute when she gets absorbed in her work, because her eyebrows furrow and she bites her lip and it's just so adorable-"
Marceline cuts off, embarrassed. After a few moments she continues. "We're really different, though, so I don't know if it would ever work out. But we'll probably never get together because there's no way in hell she'd ever feel the same." Her hands move to the middle of your back. "She's got a kingdom to rule, with her being a princess and al, so she's really busy and we don't get to hang like we used to." She stops there, fearing she's said too much. She floats up and over to the balcony. "Well, Bonni, I'd better get going." She says, flustered. "You need to get some rest, okay?" She opens the door and steps onto the landing. You scramble up and follow her.
"Marcy, don't go." She's perched on the railing, ready to fly off into the dark sky. "I just.. I wanna know.. is it… is it me?" You manage to blurt out. She turns to look at you, and softly slides onto her feet. She's directly in front of you and is a good four inches taller. You examine her face. Her left fang is poking out of her mouth, and she looks worried. You continue to stare as she looks at her scuffed up shoes, and nods. "I'm sorry." She says. "I'm sorry and I know that you're not like that and you don't like me back and it'd never work anyway but you're just so amazing. You actually like spending time with me and you like me. You listen to my music and even though sometimes you don't like my clothing or my songs that's okay. You're so smart and you can do all these fantastic things. You're young and yet you manage to rule a kingdom like this, and you do it so well, Bonni, you really do. You amaze me every time we're together. I love watching you when we're together because you always get excited when I bring you something, like when I got you that telescope.
"I feel almost alive when I'm with you. I want to memorize your face and everything about you and that's all I want."
She stops, and turns to leave again. "Now you know. I'll go now." You grab her wrist and pull her into your embrace. Your arms are wrapped around her skinny waist, and hers tentatively encircle your shoulders. "Bubblegum?" She whispers, pulling away, eyes locking onto yours. "I've liked your for so long." You reply in equally hushed tones, as if the stars were listening in. "I thought you had gotten sick of me." Marceline smiles weakly. "I could never, you big dork." She says. You stay like that, just looking at each other. Your fingers crawl up to the collar of her leather jacket, and tug a bit. She bends, and you can practically hear her heart beating, if it could. Yours is pumping wildly in your chest, reverberating in your ears. Your lips a centimeter apart, you murmur, "Is it okay?" Marceline agrees by closing the distance between you two. Your lips meet and your arms slide around her neck. Her hands rest on your hips and she angles her head to deepen the kiss. Her fangs poke a bit at your bottom lip, and she runs her tongue along it. Your lips part and give her entrance, tongues battling for dominance. She wins and before your know it your back is against the cold stone wall of the castle. Her hips her pressed into yours, molded into your body as though you were made for her.
She tastes like cigarettes, leather, and the slightest hint of strawberry.