A thousand years tended not to mean much when it came to finding love. One would think after all that time a person might discover some sort of "secret" to it all. But how could they when for nine hundred and ninety-six of them were spent blind to the truth? Blind to what their heart truly sought.
It was here, in Marceline's return to the land of Ooo that she discovered her wasted millennium. It was in her return to Ooo, after years of traveling, of self-searching, that she finally discovered what her infinite life had been missing. She had spent her younger years jumping around from couple to couple, some more serious than the last, but all ending in the numb feeling of nothing. Marceline never found herself ending her relationships out of hate or sadness…but from realizing she felt absolutely nothing for them. She'd tried them all, bad boys, good boys, genius boys, and foolish boys but none of them, no matter how kind or confident, filled the spot in her vampire heart. It wasn't until she returned to Ooo and was accidentally introduced to Bonnibel.
"I swear, Marceline!" Bonnibel shouted, shaking her fist at the vampire queen as the woman floated just out of the princess's reach. A mischievous grin rested on her lips as she poked a fang into a strawberry, sucking the beautiful red from the fruit. Casually she tossed it to the ground at Princess Bubblegum's feet only seeming to infuriate her. "The next time I find you stealing from my gardens I'll…I'll," she trailed off as Marceline swooped down, nose-to-nose with the woman.
"You'll what?" She dared as the princess frowned deeper, giving a frustrated huff and a stamp of her foot as Marceline cackled. "When you figure it out, let me know," she teased before swooping off, her hand resting on the top of her large sunhat so it didn't fly off.
Bonnibel gritted her teeth together, grinding the sugary bones back and forth in frustration. Ever since Finn had introduced the two she got nothing but trouble from the vampire. Sometimes it was innocent, simply appearing in the halls behind her in order to spook the princess. Other times she was raiding the royal gardens in search of red fruits to feed on. Bonnibel was getting tired of it. She felt like half the time she saw the vampire queen even more than Finn.
Marceline, on the other hand, wasn't doing it just to torment the petite princess. Since the day Finn introduced them during one of Princess Bubblegum's science parties – or whatever it was – Marceline had felt this odd desire to be near her. She wanted Bonnibel to like her but the vampire queen had spent so much of her life just causing mischief and despair that creating any sort of friendship the way Finn did seemed impossible. Toying with the princess was all Marceline knew how to do, short of actually telling her how she felt.
"Finn!" Princess Bubblegum shouted as she entered her castle again, the boy tending to spend his free time there. It was sweet, at some end, but also sad at another. It was obvious that the boy fancied her and everyone knew it. Maybe if she were younger they would have had more of a chance at being more than friends. But that was the problem, she wasn't thirteen, she was a woman…and he was a boy. And as a woman and a princess she had responsibilities that a simple boy would not normally need to deal with. Finn was good for helping with pests, though, and she had a big one for him to take care of.
"Yes, PB?" He called; doing his natural collection of tumbles and flips as he approached her. Bonnibel was trying her best to remain calm; to remain level headed but Marceline was running her patience thin; all of this trouble from her on top of having a kingdom to run. Sure, Marceline might be the queen of the vampires but she didn't have anyone to be responsible for except herself.
"I need you and Jake to keep an eye on the Royal gardens while I head to the royal meeting of professional chess players in the nut kingdom." Dang, that sounded even worse to her than dealing with Marceline. At least the vampire knew how to get Bonnibel's blood pumping. The most exciting thing Princess Bubblegum would be doing during the meeting would be attempting to stay awake.
"Why? Are their dangerous garden-eating demons taking over?" Finn asked as Bonnibel made her way to the front of the castle, picking up the necessities for the day out.
"No," she said firmly, jumping onto Lady Rainicorn's back as her stead and Jake finished up whatever the couple had been talking about.
"Is the Ice King going to come down and freeze them all while you're gone?"
"No!" Finn flinched at the sharp remark from the princess as Bonnibel took in a deep breath, counting to ten as she shook her head. "No, Finn. I just need you to keep unwanted visitors out. Okay?" Finn gave a firm nod of his head, his face quick to turn serious as he saluted her and Lady rose into the air.
"You can count on me, princess! We'll make sure no one gets their grimy hands on your precious veggies!"
"What the heck was that all about?" Jake asked as the pair made their way to their mission for the day. Finn shrugged, playfully kicking around a rock between his feet as they walked.
"Who the math knows. Maybe she's just a little cranky?" Jake nodded, seeming to understand what was happening better than Finn did. It was a little annoying at times when all of his older friends seemed to understand different things without telling him. Jake would always get real quiet when talking about why he never came home after a date with Lady. Marceline always seemed to be moody about something. And Princess Bubblegum was the worst. She'd look at him with those big sad eyes; seeming to only tell him half of everything she wanted to say.
But Finn had started to grow thick-skinned from it. He'd started to just shrug and move on with his life. Deciding it wasn't important enough to dwindle on in his life of awesome adventures. And sure, maybe today wasn't going to be the most exciting – watching vegetables and all – but it was a beautiful day and like always he would get to spend it with his best bud.
In the mean time Marceline found it impossible for her to fall asleep. The cave was a perfect place for someone like her who needed the darkness of night constantly. She couldn't remember the last time she even wanted to go outside for such innocent reasons. Normally it was to cause pain for some creature, to make them suffer and beg for mercy. But currently she just wanted another reason to get all up in Bonnibel's face, to watch her nose wrinkle in anger and her face flush with frustration. It was adorable and becoming more and more difficult for the queen of moody to hide how much she liked it.
But she couldn't go back now, that would be too soon. She'd have to go back later that evening, maybe appear on her balcony. That always gave the princess a good scare when she wasn't expecting it. Then again, Marceline couldn't keep tiptoeing around like this. It would be impossible at some point to hide her girlish tendencies around the princess. Finn was a prime suspect of it. Sure, he was young and inexperienced, but a thousand year old vampire didn't differ much to a thirteen year old boy when around someone that made her feel all giddy inside. Then again, that was also what was stopping the queen, the whole fact that she was…well…old.
She was old in spirit and soul while Bonnibel was so young and free, so open to everything the world held. It was a beautiful quality that the princess unfortunately had to hide whenever her royal duties called. Marceline had always made her boyfriends to be some sort of immortal beings, creatures that understood what it was like to live forever. But there was also a sort of sadness in all of that. Forever was a terrifying word to Marceline. Forever with one person was down right horrifying to the vampire. But something about Bonnibel made her ignore the fact that she was so new to the world, so young. Marceline just wished to get to know her a little more than as Finn's genius friend.
And so it was decided as she readied herself for that evening. She'd wear something a little flashy, but not too try hard. On her torso she had a loose red tank that she tucked into her ripped and high-waist jeans, tucking a special gift into the pocket. Next were the boots, the size of the heels not mattering much considering how she floated around everywhere. So, she picked the brown high-heeled ones with the laces on the sides that went all the way up to her knees. And the final step was just getting past the somewhat routine butterflies that had settled into her stomach. It was stupid, girlish, but she had committed to this and now wouldn't turn back as she made her night fly to the Candy Kingdom.
That meeting had been horrible. The next year Bonnibel would have to find someone to stand in for her. She couldn't possibly deal with another person telling her about how important the material a chess piece was composed of was. Certainly she knew she was a bit of science geek at times, but at least her hobby was some times proactive. All those chess champions seemed to care about was how many moves they could make to complete a game or what sort of chessboard was the best. At this point all Bonnibel wanted was to get home, take a nice warm bath, and then go to bed. Yes, that all sounded lovely.
Lady dropped the princess off at her bedroom balcony as Bonnibel made her way in, the bath already set up – probably by her loyal servant Peppermint – as she stripped out of her princess attire and climbed in. The sugar water oozed into her body, seemingly making all of her tension release in a single and relaxed "Ahhh."
Sadly she didn't have all of eternity to live in the water as time started making it go cold, alerting Bonnibel that it was time to get out. She wouldn't miss it much, her body simply craving for the lush cushioning of her pillows and mattress. Dressing into an oversized pink t-shirt Bonnibel started to finish up her nighttime routine before halting at the curious sound outside. The princess had sent Finn and Jake home through a prism-gram on her ride back, knowing that there would be guards set up during the evenings. And yet as she crept from her room and onto the balcony that overlooked the gardens she felt her body tense up again.
Marceline had arrived in the middle of Bonnibel's bath, saddened to find no princess in her window or at her balcony. Maybe she was off on some sort of royal business? Either way she could at least give her a gift as she drifted over to an empty plot of dirt, plucking a seed from her pocket. Carefully she dug out a hole, burying the strawberry seed before floating off to find a can of water. Guards or not at lot of them tended to keep their backs to the garden, believing any intruders would walk through the doors rather than fly invisibly over them. It was simply too easy.
Bonnibel watched the entire exchange from behind her banister, finding herself unable to speak or reveal where she was as she watched. Quietly she lifted her eyes over the top of the banister as Marceline finished watering the mound of dirt, leaning closer to it as she whispered something the princess couldn't hear.
"Alrighty buddy, I need you to grow big and strong for me," Marceline whispered as she pulled her base from around her back. Slowly she strummed a calm tune before beginning to sing to the young plant, her voice quick to enchant the princess:
Grow big and strong, little guy.
Grow big and strong into the sky.
Grow big and strong for me,
So that I may pay back that sweat pea.
Grow big and strong for little miss,
So that I may receive her lovely k-
A flutter of bird wings made Marceline stop playing, tensing and looking around, finally turning her eyes up. Her stomach fell to see nothing more than an empty balcony as she sighed, settling her base back to where it belonged as she flew off into the night.
In truth, the balcony hadn't been empty. Bonnibel had listened to her beautiful voice, swooned by the words as she stood from her place. But the movement had startled a small bird and the princess threw herself back into her room before the vampire saw her. She rested in bed, trying to understand what she had just heard. All this time she thought Marceline was a nuisance, just another friend of Finn's that liked to play pranks. But maybe…maybe Marceline wasn't just about that.
Bonnibel found her self conflicted through the night and the next morning, finding herself in the gardens and staring at the freshly shifted soil. What had Marceline even planted? Her song talked about paying someone back…maybe that's what the plant was for? Bonnibel found herself blushing as she thought about the words, about the unfinished lyrics and the beautiful voice of the artist. She had never really looked at Marceline in that fashion, she'd never looked at any woman in that fashion. Maybe this was her attempt at some sort of olive branch. It would be poor manners not to return it.
So she packed up a basket full of red fruits and vegetables, even a handful of flowers. Bonnibel wasn't entirely sure about giving it to her; worried it would be too obvious that she had spied on Marceline last night. Then again, maybe the woman wouldn't care. She fought with herself the whole walk there.
Marceline had spent the remainder of the night at home, flicking through channels and strumming randomly at her base. She hated being…good. Not in the sense that she enjoyed her time when she fed from humans and terrorized towns, but at least during those days she wasn't bored. Being good meant she spent a lot of time sitting around waiting for something to happen. But in a way she didn't care to admit, Marceline liked how she felt about herself when she did something good. Sure, she was still mischievous, but it was all in innocent fun.
A hesitant knock came from her door as the woman's head snapped towards it, resting her hand flat on the strings to stop them from vibrating. There was a pause as Bonnibel debated on leaving the basket and making a run for it. But that was a coward's way and she would be no coward! She would be a well mannered princess, returning her thanks to the vampire queen s she gave another few knocks – with a little more purpose this time.
Slowly Marceline opened the door, blinking as her eyes fell upon the candy princess. "Uh…hi," she breathed as Bonnibel gave a nervous smile and held out the basket.
"Hi…I wanted to give this to you. I didn't know if you were partial to strawberries or whatever so I just threw everything red in the garden that I could find." Bonnibel's words were quick and fumbled as if she was trying to throw them at the woman. Marceline continued to stand there with a blank expression, shifting her gaze from the basket of red to Bonnibel and then the basket again. What was she doing here? Had someone said something?
"Th-thanks," Marceline finally smiled, taking the basket as she flew away from the open door to start stocking the fridge with the items. Bonnibel continued to stand in the doorway, glancing towards the mouth of the cave and wondering if she could sneak away quickly enough. "You can come in if you want," Marceline's request made Bonnibel flinch, her princess self telling her no but her body pulled her into the home anyway. Gently she closed the door, looking around the quaint place that Bonnibel honestly never expected from the vampire queen. She was all about doom and gloom a lot of the time and yet the house looked…normal, happy even. It was obvious she was prejudging Marceline and it wasn't fair to the woman but it wasn't like Marceline had helped her case any.
"Your place is…nice," Bonnibel whispered, feeling awkward, as she didn't know what to do. As a princess she was accustomed to hosts giving her direction, placing her where they believed a princess deserved to sit. But Marceline wasn't like the rest of Ooo; she saw Bonnibel as a woman and almost seemed to scorn her for being royalty.
"You think so? Ya, I think I like it even better than Jake and Finn's place." Marceline floated from the kitchen, handing the basket back to the woman. "Has the right amount of darkness," she waved her arms, giving a small hiss as her tongue fluttered between her fangs. Bonnibel held in a shocked peep, leaning away as she snatched her basket back, giving a nervous laugh and looking towards the door again. "Anyway, thanks for the food…what made you change your mind?"
Bonnibel squeaked, realizing she had no reason besides telling Marceline the truth. "I…um…I…" Marceline raised an impatient brow, placing her hands on her hips as Bonnibel's face grew a darker shade of pink. She sighed heavily, slumping as she looked towards the carpet-covered floor, extremely clean considering the woman never had to walk on it. "I saw you last night," Marceline's grey skin quickly grew red as she drifted back a few feet. "I didn't hear anything!" She quickly lied, "Just saw you planting something in the garden. I…I realized I wasn't being fair to you. The Royal Gardens are for all to enjoy. So, you may visit it whenever you choose…though," she gave her a coy smile, "Coming in the daylight might be a little easier than sneaking in." Marceline rubbed the back of her neck, giving another nervous chuckle.
"Thanks, I might not have to, though, with all of this food you gave me," she gestured to the kitchen as Bonnibel felt a pained swirl form in her stomach. She was a fool! Of course Marceline wouldn't return now, she had no reason to!
"Well…you…you must take care of your plant," she stammered as Marceline looked up with a surprised expression. "Just to, you know, make sure it grows…big and strong," she whispered, stepping backwards towards the door as Marceline blushed.
"Um…ya, okay…maybe tomorrow," Bonnibel nodded, fumbling for the door and calmly departing before making a bolt for the mouth of the cave. What had all of that been about? So often the vampire made Bonnibel feel frustrated and angry over flustered and embarrassed. The sudden change of emotions frightened Bonnibel as she glanced back at the darkened siding of Marceline's house. Had their relationship just been one big misunderstanding?
Marcelline gave a loud groan, smacking her forehead with the palm of her hand. What had she been talking about not wanting to go over? Of course she wanted to go, everyday if she could, but part of her needed to keep the cool and collect exterior that everyone knew so well. She couldn't let them discover how much of a little girl she felt around Bonnibel, how weak she felt under her inquiring gaze and big words. It was stupid, always so stupid.
But the next day came and like Marceline had promised she arrived at the gardens, the cloud cover keeping her from having to wear protection from the sun. She looked down at the little plot of soil, not particularly sure what to do with it. Plants weren't exactly her specialty. Certainly she knew the basics: dirt, water, and sun, but after that Marceline had a tendency to kill them off from some accidental mistake. She huffed, settling herself a few feet from the ground as she randomly strummed on her base.
Bonnibel had forgotten about Marceline's promise the day before. She had spent her morning tending to several small issues about the kingdom before giving herself some time to the gardens. They always had a way of calming the girl, allowing her to enjoy the peace and quiet around her and the relief of being out of her princess clothes. She stepped into a pair of knee-high pink rain boots, a matching pink sweatshirt over a pair of darker pink shorts. It was perfect as she grabbed her carrier of garden tools and stepped out into the gloomy day, pausing at the sound of singing.
It hadn't been like the other night, there were no words, simply Marceline humming along to the different strumming of chords. It was still nice, pretty and Bonnibel decided she wouldn't intrude, hoping it would keep her playing as she tended to a select few of her plants. But as time passed Bonnibel found herself humming along, alerting the vampire queen to her presence as she opened her eyes, glancing over and blushing as she watched Bonnibel dig through the dirt. Slowly she plucked weeds from the ground and tossed them to her side, her humming turning into a soft whistle as Marceline continued to play. Quietly the vampire drifted over, watching as Bonnibel carefully cleaned off ripening fruits till they shinned, standing to go and grab the water can. But she wasn't aware of Marceline's close proximity and screamed, stumbling back as Marceline floated away.
"I-I'm sorry, I was just wondering what you were doing," Marceline stuttered as Bonnibel rested her hand on her chest, trying to calm her heart as she shook her head, placing a gentle smile on her lips.
"That's alright, I simply wasn't paying attention. You have a very pretty voice," she commented as Marceline gave her own smile.
"So do you," Bonnibel then suddenly burst into laughter, grabbing the watering can as she shook her head.
"I wish my voice teacher had heard you say that. She thought my singing was atrocious." Marceline chuckled, giving a small scoff as she lounged in the air.
"Please, she doesn't know what she's talking about. Do you have these tutors or whatever for everything?" Marceline asked as Bonnibel gave a small shrug, finishing the can over a twisting of watermelon vines.
"I did when I was younger. For a while I had a tutor for learning how to court but decided he was a waste of time. I didn't need anyone to help me rule my people," she stated frankly as Marceline felt an odd amount of respect for the woman. She was certainly right, though. Bonnibel was as strong as she was gentle and while Marceline believed her tactics to sometimes be too gentle, it wasn't anything she should be ashamed of.
The pair continued the conversation, revolving around daily activities, their duties, Finn and Jake and when Marceline remarked that she needed to get home Bonnibel offered to join her. It was the first time Marceline found herself wishing it would never end, wishing each minute would last a little longer as a ground rumbling clap of thunder echoed over their heads. "Oh dear," Bonnibel remarked, holding her hand out as a drop of rain fell into it, "I fear we're about to get caught in a rain storm." Marceline flinched as a drop hit her in the center of her forehead.
"Here, hold on," she smiled, holding her hand out to the princess as Bonnibel took it without hesitation. Quickly Marceline lifted her off the ground, flying them towards her cave as the rain picked up into what felt like sheets of water. They arrived at her dark home soaked to the bone but giggling as Marceline offered to let Bonnibel wait out the storm.
"Thanks," she breathed, shivering a bit as water dripped from her clothes and Marceline snapped her fingers. Ushering the girl up to her bedroom as she pulled out random pieces of clothes from her wardrobe.
"Here, you can wear this so you don't catch a cold," she smiled; handing Bonnibel something the girl wasn't accustomed to wearing. First off, it wasn't pink it was black. The t-shirt advertised some band that Marceline apparently liked and the trousers were just a comfortable pair of sweatpants. It was weird seeing her in clothing that didn't match her own skin tone as she stepped from the bathroom. Marceline had taken the time to step into something similar as Bonnibel squeezed the water from her hair. Quickly it lost its straight shape and bounced into a far more lumpy mess that Bonnibel grumbled at, making Marceline chuckle.
They then continued their conversations; not even noticing the rumbling had stopped and the rain had died down. It was only when Bonnibel glanced at the clock on Marceline's bedside table that she realized just how long she had been away from the castle. "Cabbage," she breathed, scrambling from the bed to collect her still wet clothes from the edge of the bathtub.
"You can keep them," Marceline remarked, trying to keep her nervous voice from quivering as Bonnibel looked down at the black clothes and then up at Marceline with a smile. "Here, I can give you a ride back." The vampire flew Bonnibel back, dropping her off at her bedroom balcony just as the sun disappeared behind the rain-soaked mountains.
"Marceline," Bonnibel called, clutching her wet clothes to her chest and stopping the woman from drifting back home. "I enjoyed our day together," she whispered, hoping the darkness of the night would hide her blush. Marceline gave her own coy smile and a nod of her head.
"I did too, princess."
"Bonnibel," she corrected. The woman had always hated when Marceline called her by her first name, believing it was degrading and improper. But in reality Bonnibel realized she liked it, she liked feeling like just a normal girl around someone for once. Even with Finn he was quick to jump to the profession of knight if she ever seemed upset or in danger. But Marceline never changed because she was a princess.
From that day the pair would share the every so often day together. When it was sunny Bonnibel would visit Marceline where the vampire queen would play music while Bonnibel hummed along. On beautiful nights the two would sneak up to the roof of Finn and Jake's tree house and watch the stars turn in the sky. It was bitter sweet. They both enjoyed one another's company, but found themselves feeling tense and uncomfortable showing it in public. It was as if they knew they should hate being near the other, rather than enjoy laughing together and how Bonnibel would be enchanted by Marceline's many stories.
Slowly, though, the pair's friendship began to blossom into something more. Every time Marceline grabbed Bonnibel's hand to fly them wherever they needed it was with a little more care. Each night they would sit an inch closer to the other till their shoulders touched and Marceline's hand rested on Bonnibel's opposite hip. It was innocent but exhilarating to the Candy princess that never had the chance in her life to be so rebellious. With Marceline she finally felt like her own woman, making her own decisions on what she wanted rather than was she believed the world needed.
A knock came from her window one evening, disturbing the princess from her readings as she glanced up. Slowly she stepped from the bed, wondering if maybe it was Finn and Jake since Marceline made no notion to see her tonight. Finishing tying the robe around her waist, Bonnibel carefully opened the door to find Marceline sitting somewhat nervously on the balcony's banister.
The vampire had been in feeling fidgety for the past few days. She couldn't keep spending time with Bonnibel if she knew it was just how the princess showed her appreciation towards friends. Marceline hated how it made her feel, how unsure and insecure she felt when it came to the princess. Was she being too forward? Was she not being forward enough? For the millennium she had been alive she couldn't remember many occasions, if any, that made her feel this way.
"Marcie?" Bonnibel breathed, giving her a curious look as Marceline looked up, quick to begin playing the ends of her long hair.
"Bonnibel…hi…I was worried you might be asleep already." She bit on her lip, exposing her top two fangs that had once scared Bonnibel.
"Is something wrong?" Marceline looked sick as she drifted from her seat to float a few feet from Bonnibel, clearing her throat.
"No…I don't know," her big black eyes turned up as she sighed, finally letting her feet rest on the ground as she took a few steps forward. "I need to know, Bonnibel." Bonnibel gave her a confused look, unsure where she was going with her stumbling of a conversation. She then tensed as Marceline reached for her hand, the subject suddenly clear as her face grew hot. "Is it just me?" For the few words she'd said Bonnibel was able to understand fully as she glanced down at her gentle touch, slowly and nervously letting her fingers slide between Marceline's.
"N-No," Bonnibel glanced up, her heart thudding against her chest, she was sure the vampire could hear it, maybe even see it as it begged to thump right out of her chest. "It was never just you," she whispered as Marceline stood there, her lips slowly breaking into a smile as she surged forward to embrace the princess. Bonnibel tucked her face into the curve of her neck; her body feeling like it was going to melt that very second.
Marceline was elated, trying to hold her closer, to be able to feel every beat of her heart as they floated slightly into the air. Slowly, she pulled back, cupping the woman's face as she leaned her lips forward. But Bonnibel found her self embarrassingly turning her face to the side, feeling the gentle kiss on her cheek. Marceline suddenly dropped them back to the ground as Bonnibel stepped back crossing her arms over her stomach. "I'm sorry, but I need some time before…more." Marceline blushed, looking down as she nodded her head. "It's not you…I just, I have a kingdom I need to take care of. I do not wish to stop what we have, I just need a little more time." Marceline nodded, trying to ignore the hurt in her chest. Always with the kingdom business. There was never a day they spent together that the princess didn't bring up her kingdom. Wasn't that why she was with Marceline to begin with? To get away from the responsibilities of being a princess? And yet here she was, reading off to Marceline how important the kingdom was to her as if to tell her that there would never be a time where the vampire would come before it.
But…maybe she was making a foolish assumption. As she drifted back home Marceline tried to remain focused on the fact that Bonnibel had said yes. That she'd been able to smell her sweet scent and feel her body against hers. That their departures would never end in awkward waves and nervous giggles. Maybe Marceline really was the one that was going about this wrong. She had so many relationships over the years to the point where she could follow the steps, anticipate them, and speed them up when she wanted. But with Bonnibel, the princess refused to let her control the situation because while Marceline might've experienced it all, Bonnibel hadn't. She wanted it done right and at the pace that it came naturally. Marceline would have to remind herself of it.
And it was something she reminded of herself often. It became difficult for her to remain in the same room as the princess. Her eyes would linger on her body, her lips, her bright eyes. It would make Bonnibel blush and snap at her to stop staring. During their nights alone she would try to initiate some sot of a kiss but Bonnibel would be quick to turn away and decide the outing was over. The most Marceline received from her was a kiss on the cheek that annoyed the vampire. But it would be her hugs that would turn her anger into sadness. She could feel it in the way Bonnibel tightened around her body, gripped her shirt in her fingers and buried her face into her shoulder that she didn't want it to be this way. No one would mind if they discovered Marceline's attraction towards Bonnibel. But if the feelings were returned, if her kingdom was to discover that their princess was fawning over the queen of the vampires…well, the idea seemed to make Bonnibel hesitate. Always hesitate. Marceline could feel it in the way her heart would speed up, in how she'd pull away slowly enough for their cheeks to brush together, for their lips to remain no more than a breath away. She wanted it but Marceline would always have to watch her pull away, her title making it impossible.
Marceline, though, still did have tendencies of leaving for a few days at a time. Even with Bonnibel and Finn, she still enjoyed getting around in the world, seeing a change of scenery. She would come back and tell Bonnibel all about her adventures, begging that they went back together someday. Bonnibel would always giggle, remark on how much she would like that, but then always give a heavy "but" about how dangerous it was. It infuriated Marceline. She was always poking at the vampire's flaws, at what she ate and how she ate, how she never seemed to be doing anything during her days. Marceline tried to take it with a grain of salt but it was hard at times and in the end her disappearance from her home those few days had been from the simple need to clear her head.
Only it was a poor time to do so.
During those absent days, Bonnibel had been busy with her kingdom, keeping it safe and in order. Marceline might've thought she forgot about the queen during those days…but she never did. Every night Bonnibel would slip into the black band shirt and crawl into bed. She would breathe in the scent of the vampire as it settled her busy thoughts. Bonnibel was always thinking of Marceline…even after her run-in with the Lich.
Finn had told Bonnibel that Marceline was back during one of their play dates. Bonnibel was still trying to get used to the idea that she was thirteen again and Finn was doing a good job at helping her. For once she could see just how charming he could be. He was a gentleman and kind, always offering to help and play with her. But she had to let Marceline know. She could just have her stumble upon the girl one night.
So she had Finn and Jake escort her to the cave, saying that she had something to return to Marceline – the pants from weeks before. Bonnibel instructed them to remain at the mouth of the cave, that she wouldn't be long as she approached the door and gave it a gentle knock. Marceline had just finished unpacking and was digging through her fridge for something to eat in nothing more than a big shirt. "One sec!" She called, sucking the color from and apple before drifting to the door.
"Hello," Bonnibel smiled, her voice sounding that of a young child as Marceline's jaw fell, the apple tumbling from her hands. Bonnibel was quick to pick it up, offering it to her with the pants. "May I come in?" Marceline nodded slowly, still unable to speak as she took back the pants and apple, resting them on her kitchen counter as Bonnibel closed the door. "I hope your travels went well?"
"Um…y-yes…they went fine," Marceline stuttered, unable to come any closer as if Bonnibel had caught some sort of disease. "What…what happened while I was gone?" Bonnibel started to explain, her voice still unsettling the vampire queen as she talked about the Lich and being possessed. She explained her position as to why she was thirteen again and how Finn and Jake were waiting for her.
"I'm terribly sorry, Marceline." Marceline felt like her dead heart had been ripped from her very chest.
"Well can't you fix it? Can't you get more candy or…or something?" Marceline found her voice wavering as she cleared it, surprised at the sadness and anger boiling in her belly. Bonnibel looked down with a small sigh.
"I…I think it's best if I stay like this, Marceline. Finn he…he takes good care of me. It's better if…"
"Finn?" Marceline hissed, finally floating from her position and moving towards the girl. "You wish to remain a child so that you can spend your life with Finn? It's because that's who you're supposed to be with, isn't it? That it's just easier to be with him than someone like me, right?" Bonnibel leaned away, tears in her eyes as they began to crawl down her cheeks.
"Marceline, p-please don't be mad. I'm sorry but I simply can't…can't be with you. After all that happened it's very clear to me that what we had was just…I don't know what it was. Maybe it was a mistake." Marceline hissed, her mouth filling with sharp teeth as she swooped inches from Bonnibel's face.
"A mistake? What we had…what we have is something special!" She screamed as Bonnibel burst into tears, running from the home as her sobs echoed out of the cave. Marceline floated there till her shoulders started to tremble. Slowly she began to fall to the ground, sliding onto her knees as she fell onto her hands, tears dripping form the end of her nose onto the carpet. Her hair formed a curtain around her face as she sniffle and wept. "I would have waited for you…" she whispered giving a few whimpers, "I would have waited."
Marceline found she felt lost after all of that. She debated on leaving again, on moving on from this place like she had all those times before. But she couldn't. This was her home with friends than she felt closer to than even the oldest of ghosts. She wasn't mad at Finn, she couldn't be. He didn't know what he had gotten himself in the middle of, and in truth Marceline wasn't disappointed that he had taken the opportunity presented to him. In the end the vampire found herself in a numb state, drifting around the darkened world at night and sleeping for hours during the day.
If anything, Marceline felt herself reaching an unhealthy state of depression and desperation. Every evening became a cycle for her. She would float over to the candy kingdom; care for growing plant till the light in Bonnibel's room went out. Then she would make her way up to the balcony, settling herself in one of the open windows as she watched the princess' bed consume her petite body. Some nights she would feel daring and sit on a chair, even tuck her in with a small peck on her forehead. It was pitiful but the vampire queen couldn't make herself stop. After realizing her help could've saved Bonnibel from this fate Marceline couldn't help but blame herself. Bonnibel had been the first person in Marceline's life that made the woman wonder what it would be like to give up her immortality.
Part of Bonnibel's older self still lived in the princess. She still felt like she could've given Marceline the news in a better fashion, a more mature fashion. But her new child outlook could only focus on the fearsome face Marceline had given her at the news. Part of her hated the vampire for it, for how selfish she was being. Couldn't Marceline just be happy for her? Couldn't she just see that this was the better option? A princess needed a hero, not a vampire. She had to rule with an iron fist and couldn't let herself get distracted by silly affairs.
But in the end she couldn't remain the way she was. Thirteen was too young for a child to rule an entire kingdom and it showed by the quick amount of chaos that ensued. It was as if she couldn't remember how to appropriately discipline her people because her child-self didn't wish to. Only when her heir – if one could call Lemongrab such – arrived did she finally make the decision to change.
It wasn't something she took lightly, especially since she knew how it would affect Finn. The poor boy had finally had his chance with her and she had enjoyed every moment of it, but it was her responsibility as a princess to protect her people. Thoughts of Marceline lingered in her subconscious, but Bonnibel forced them back into the darkness. Marceline wasn't the reason she was doing this, especially since Bonnibel was sure the woman would never want to speak with her anyway.
But, as a newly made eighteen-year-old, Bonnibel knew it was only right to extend some sort of olive branch. She chose to personally invite her to a sort of birthday party that the kingdom had arranged for their princess. Bonnibel sent the invitation off with Finn and Jake, knowing very well it wouldn't be received if she had delivered it.
Finn couldn't really say how he felt about all of this. His kiss had been what made Bonnibel return to her actual age. The few weeks that they had had together were more than he could've hoped for and it only strengthened his belief that they deserved to be together. But now they couldn't and he could see it in her eyes that it was tough to look at him, to see how close he was and yet how she couldn't touch him the way they had before. It was heartbreaking to the poor boy and slowly removed the hop in his step as they made their way to Marceline's house.
"You okay, man?" Jake asked Finn as the kid gave a small sigh, shrugging but not responding. Jake frowned, hating to see his friend the way he was. He was angry with the princess, for yanking at the boy's feelings and then leaving him out to dry. But he knew why she did it, he knew she did it for the responsibility of her people and Lady told him that Bonnibel still didn't seem to think it was the best decision she could have made. But it was too late now, what was done was done. Maybe after this party everyone would feel a little happier.
"Marceline!" Finn called, forcing excitement back into his voice as he started to bang on her door. The vampire was in her bedroom, glancing out the window and giving a small sigh. Slowly she started to float down the stairs only to hesitate as Finn continued. "Marceline we have a invitation for you to Bonnibel's birthday party!" He shouted as Marceline drifted away from the door. Could they see her? Did they know she was here? Maybe if she just stayed very quiet they would go away. She didn't want to be invited to the girl's birthday party because Marceline knew she wouldn't be able to remain civilized in front of her.
She continued to drift back, bumping into her bass as it gave a sharp twang and made Marceline flinch. They would have to be deaf to not hear that. "Marcie?" Finn asked a little quieter as Marceline continued to float there, wishing they would just go away. "Come on Marceline, we know you're in there. It's a personal invitation and everything," he added as Marceline's nose scrunched up in frustration.
"Go away," she finally remarked, pulling her bass from its stand and gently strumming on it to drown them out.
"But Marcie," Finn breathed.
"I said go away! I don't want her stupid invitation!" She hissed as Finn stumbled back from the door, as if the wood had stretched out and slapped him across the face. Jake sighed, reaching up to his brother's shoulder and giving it a small squeeze.
"Here, why don't you let me give it a try?" Finn looked at the dog curiously, wondering what he was thinking. He couldn't possibly think Marceline would react any better than she had to him. The vampire did nothing but torture the poor dog, Finn thought he hated her and yet here he was trying to convince her otherwise.
"Marceline?" He called as Marceline gave a loud strum to try and muffle the dog's voice. "She grew up. She's eighteen now," Marceline looked up, her stomach turning as the strumming stopped. Jake gave Finn a sideways glance before continuing. "She wanted us to make sure we got this to you, said that it was important that you saw it even if you didn't come." Marceline slowly drifted towards the door, looking down hesitantly at the doorknob. "Just look at it, at least." Silence settled in between them as Marceline rested her forehead against the door. Why did she feel so scared to look at the letter? She knew what it was going to say and yet she didn't want to see it.
"Slide it under the door," she muttered as Jake looked at a surprised Finn before giving a shrug. Gently he pushed the regal letter under the door before they made their way back to the kingdom to help with preparations. Marceline plucked it from the floor, examining it and turning it over in her hands. She ran her thumb gently over the lettering, feeling the indentations of her name in ink. Slowly she opened it, slipping out the royal letter with the party's information on it, but it was the back that Marceline knew was what Bonnibel meant for her to read.
Marceline,
Know that I write this with the greatest of apologies. The way that our last encounter was handled was inappropriate and childish. I shouldn't have told it to you the way I had. But now that I'm back to normal you should know that I still think it was the right decision. I can't be with you, Marceline. We are too opposite of one another. I have to think of my people and my people deserve a princess that's focused on their well-being. I focus on nothing more than seeing you again when we're together. I could only hope that you attend the festivities tonight as a friend.
Sincerely Your Friend,
Bonnibel
Marceline blinked at the note, each sentence sending her through a rollercoaster of emotions. But as she finished all that rested in her belly was anger and hurt. What did she know about what was right for her people? Wasn't she happy when they were together? Didn't that mean her people were happy too? What Bonnibel was being was selfish, thinking solely of her image rather than what she deserved. Yes, Marceline would go to the party, but with far less friendliness than the princess probably hoped.
Bonnibel was admittedly nervous, hearing that the letter to Marceline had been delivered. She could only hope that the vampire took it well, that she agreed with Bonnibel's conclusions and chose to come as a friend. If there was anything Bonnibel knew it was that she couldn't completely throw the vampire out of her life. She was important, even if she was a little naïve at times.
Yet, when the party began Bonnibel found the woman acting far less civilized than she hoped.
Marceline burst through the door, not putting much attention to her appearance, as the party turned to her in surprised. Bonnibel stood from her throne, giving the vampire a curious look as Marceline drifted from table to table, plucking whatever she desired and cutting in front of whomever she wished. She hissed at guests, cackling as they were frightened off before she sucked the color from each of her items, tossing them carelessly to the floor. Bonnibel frowned, stepping down the stairs as the pair made their slow progress towards one another.
The vampire stopped in the middle of the room, looking down at Bonnibel as she dropped a grey strawberry at her feet. "You should probably get one of your servants to clean that up before someone steps on it," Marceline yawned as Bonnibel gritted her teeth together. What was she trying to prove here?
"Marceline, I was hoping you would be a little more civilized," she whispered as Marceline scoffed, looking around the room.
"I don't understand what you mean by that. I'm sure half the people here only came for the food." She reached over and plucked a gumdrop person from the crowd, the civilian shivering in terror as Marceline held them in front of her face. "You're just here to stuff your face, aren't you? You could care less if this was a party for you pretty princess." Bonnibel reached up, plucking the candy person from Marceline's grasp and resting it back on the ground as it scurried off.
"Marceline! What the glob is wrong with you!" She snapped as Marceline gave a hard laugh, leaning forward.
"Right, because I'm always the problem. You're just too perfect to be in the wrong."
"I apologized!"
"No, all you did was cover your ass." The room gave a gasp as Finn stepped up defiantly but the princess was quick to push him back. "No, go on, send your knight to do your dirty work for you. It's not like you'll be able to do anything else with him now." Bonnibel blushed, her hand snapping out to slap Marceline firmly across the face.
"How dare you," she breathed, as Marceline reached up to feel the sore skin with a frown, moving closer so their noses pressed together.
"How dare I? You're such a hypocrite. You always treat everyone one like such a child. And yet here I am, a thousand years your senior and you continue to put me down like everyone else around you." Marceline floated back, grabbing a nearby apple. "I'm done with this party. It's a snooze-fest anyway," she grumbled, turning her back to the princess as Bonnibel gave a defiant step forward.
"Age means nothing for maturity, Marceline. You should go find some while in that cave of yours." Marceline stopped, the apple an inch from her fangs as she dropped her hand, squeezing it till the fruit exploded.
"At least I was willing to try…to wait," she growled before disappearing back through the doors. The room fell silent as Bonnibel felt herself getting sick. For the bystanders the argument was confusing, seemingly out of nowhere for the circumstance. But Bonnibel and Marceline knew quite well what they were talking about and it left the pair of them feeling numb.
Bonnibel wanted Marceline to know she didn't want it this way. That if she could've she would've showed up at the woman's door and embraced her like they had so many times before. She would've have kissed her, felt her soft lips against her own and told her she would never leave her again. But she couldn't. Marceline had to understand that her responsibilities as princess didn't allow for that. It wasn't what she wanted but it was what was required of her.
The vampire didn't care what excuse the pretty princess might've had. It was clear what she wanted from Marceline, and that was nothing. She couldn't settle for friendship, it was too painful, too frustrating. Marceline couldn't hide her feelings towards Bonnibel as friends. She wouldn't be able to control her anger or the sudden desire to hold her. For a thousand years everything had been so easy. It was easier to feel nothing for someone and walk away than to feel everything and remain distant. She wasn't sure she could take it. She would have to leave.
But Marceline couldn't bring herself to do it. She claimed it every time she saw Finn or Jake, in which she was in the process of house hunting but that wasn't the case. Instead she would sit at home, stumbling about chords on her bass as she waited for something in her life to happen.
That something came in the form of a Door Lord.
It had been running through the lands of Ooo collecting anything and everything that others held close to their hearts. When it hopped into her home and grabbed for her bass Marceline refused, gritting her teeth and hissing at him just as Finn and Jake came hurdling back through the same door after him. The Door Lord panicked, opening a final door to the stinging sun as Marceline hissed and retreated, hearing Finn and Jake say something about getting him back. But what caught Marceline's attention was the flash of pink that followed them. She glanced up to catch Bonnibel looking back at her before quickly following after her friends.
It had been about two weeks since they'd last spoken. There were times that Marceline debated on apologizing to her, where she'd float up to her balcony, rehearsing what she was going to say only to retreat at the sound of Bonnibel's voice. Maybe…joining in with them wouldn't be so bad. Maybe it would force them to talk more, for her to express how hard this was for her.
Dressing her body in a sunhat and long gloves she drifted through the door, following after the group just as the Door Lord disappeared behind some sort of face-covered gate. Along the top were words written about needing a song from the heart to unlock it. Hell, this was right up Marceline's alley as she began to gently strum on her guitar, the rest of the group slowly joining in.
I'm gonna burry you in the ground
I'm gonna burry you in my sound
I'm gonna drink the red from your pretty pink face
I'm gonna-
"Marceline," Bonnibel snapped, "that's too distasteful!" Marceline looked down at Bonnibel and frowned, flying higher into the air in front of the door.
"Oh? You don't like that?" Anger boiled in her belly, "Or maybe you just don't like me!" Marceline started to strum harder on the strings, the sound sharp and angry as she continued her song.
Sorry I don't treat you like a goddess.
Is that what you want me to do?
Sorry I don't treat you like you're perfect,
Like all your little loyal subjects do.
Sorry I'm not made of sugar
And I'm not sweet enough for you
Is that why you always avoid me?
That must be such an inconvenience to you.
Well, I'm just your problem.
I'm just your problem.
It's like I'm not even a person.
Am I?
I'm just your problem.
Well, I shouldn't have to justify what I do.
I shouldn't have to prove anything to you.
I'm sorry that I exist.
I forgot what landed me on your black list.
But I shouldn't have to be the one that makes up with you.
So why do I want to
Why do I want to-
"Burry you in the ground, and drink the blood from your-" The door had started to glow during Marceline's song, the faces smiles widening with each line as did Bonnibel's shock. She watched the vampire float around, trying to hide her embarrassment from the undertones of the music, hoping she was the only one hearing what was said between each line. Marceline was angry…and maybe rightfully so. Maybe she had forgotten a bit about the vampire's side of all of this. Maybe she was the problem.
"Glob! Stop staring at me! You threw me off!" Marceline snapped, making Bonnibel's sympathy vanish in an instant as she snapped to her feet, BMO barely able to catch itself as it fell from the princess's lap.
"What about Finn and Jake? They were staring too!" She hissed as Marceline growled and Finn gave a nervous chuckle.
"Come on guys…let's not fight. We almost got it open," but Bonnibel couldn't ignore how upset the song had made her. Is that how Marceline thought of her? As some sort of perfect doll of a princess? She should know better. If anything she should knew that Bonnibel was far from perfect. But it seemed her childish anger made her blind to that as Bonnibel took charge of the next attempt.
But it didn't seem to work, her calculations failing as the song flopped and an embarrassed blush formed on her cheeks. "Seems…I miss calculated," she whispered as Marceline gave a hard laugh, floating towards her.
"Looks like you aren't so perfect after all. Now you can't say anything about me." Bonnibel tightened her hands into fists.
"I never said you had to be perfect!" She shouted, feeling her voice begin to quiver as she turned away. Marceline's face fell, realizing she might've gone too far as she reached over to rest her hand on Bonnibel's shoulder.
"Bonnie…" she whispered but the princess pulled away.
"Leave me alone. I'm going home. He can keep what he took. I don't want it back," she breathed, walking away as Finn tried to bring her back. But then Marceline found herself angry again, not at the princess but as herself as she growled and told them she was leaving too. Why stay there if the princess was gone?
But Finn wouldn't have it. He was always a trooper in that way, never willing to give up as they discovered the key to the song was that it had to contain the truth. Marceline felt her stomach turning, glancing towards a reserved princess as she came to the same realization. Bonnibel glanced over to the vampire during Finn's song, wishing she could apologize for everything, to apologize for leaving her, for pretending that a note was all that was needed. She was a fool and in truth she knew nothing about something like this. She didn't understand that one couldn't just walk away if they had a good reason; at least they couldn't if they still felt something for the woman.
The door snapped opened and the group found the Door Lord happily munching away on a sandwich. They tied him up; stealing his bag of items as Jake started to hand them back. Finn apparently had a chunk of Bonnibel's hair that he cared for dearly, only making Bonnibel pity the boy more. She shouldn't have pulled at his heart the way she had. Jake found his blanket and returned BMO's controller. But then he pulled out the black band t-shirt that Marceline had given her months ago because of the rain.
"Here Marceline, here's your…uh…band t-shirt," he remarked, unsure if he was right or not as the vampire gave a surprised looked at it.
"Wait…why is that…" Bonnibel intercepted the hand off, plucking it from Jake's hands with a nervous laugh.
"That's mine, actually," she breathed as she slipped it over her head, looking up to find Marceline's startled and blushing face.
"You…you kept my shirt?" Jake and Finn gave one another surprised looks as Bonnibel blushed, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.
"Of course I did…it's one of my favorite shirts."
"But…I never saw you wear it."
"I wore it all the time, as pajamas." The realization made Marceline blink before giving a few chuckles as she stepped up and hugged the woman. Bonnibel tensed, glancing over Marceline's shoulder to see Finn and Jake's confused looks but realized she couldn't deny her want to hold the woman. Slowly she gripped Marceline, hoping it looked like any normal friendship hug to the dog and the boy as Finn started to count the found items.
"Wait a minute," he stated as Marceline pulled back, forcing herself to keep from doing anything more. "If that's Bonnibel's…" Marceline and Bonnibel gave one another nervous looks as if to see where he was going. "Then what are you doing here, Marceline?"
"Finn…I don't think-" Jake started as if he too had realized what the boy discovered. But the Finn smiled and pointed at Marceline.
"You didn't have anything that he took did you! You just came so you could hang out with us!" Bonnibel gave a small giggle as Marceline looked over Finn's shoulder to her pretty face. He wasn't that wrong, but he wasn't that right either. Maybe it would be for the best if he thought that. All she had to do now was sell it as she put on her annoyed and moody expression, hissing at him.
"Shut up, Finn!" She snapped as Finn started to laugh.
"You like spending time with us!" He accused again as Marceline went to follow through with her charade, letting her body grow into a fearsome monster.
"I will kill you!" She shouted as Finn laughed and ran off with Jake, Bonnibel following slowly as Marceline transformed back to fit into the door to her house. As it closed the doors to different locations disappeared, just leaving the vampire and the princess in the small abode.
"Marcie," Bonnibel stated as Marceline returned her bass to its stand. "I'm sorry."
"I know," she remarked, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned back to her. But Bonnibel shook her head, sitting down on the uncomfortable couch in her house.
"No…I don't think you do. I was selfish for what I did and said to you. I just…it's like I had found an easy way out of all of this. But it wasn't easy for me. It never was. I was fooling myself that I could just say what I knew I should want and then I would feel it. But I didn't, and I pushed you wrongly away because of it." Marceline blinked, listening to her with a stunned expression. Bonnibel sighed, holding her head in her hands and she looked down at her knees. "I wanted so badly for you to come crashing through my door, to say that you couldn't take it and that you wouldn't live without me. It was stupid. Glob, it even sounds crazy now," she gave small laugh at herself and a shake of her head. Slowly, Bonnibel looked up at the vampire queen, noticing her blush as she looked away. "You are perfect to me."
"Okay…" Marceline remarked, hugging herself as she gave a slow nod of her head. "So then what does this mean? We continue as we were? In secret?" Bonnibel gave a small shrug before shaking her head.
"No, I don't want that. But I want to warm people up to the idea of it…of us. If you'll have me back of course," she gave Marceline a hopeful smile as the vampire smirked. Slowly she drifted over, plucking the princess from her seat and into the air. She wrapped one around her back, the other cupping her jaw as Bonnibel blushed.
"Let me think about it," she whispered before leaning forward to tenderly kiss the young princess. Bonnibel felt her chest swell, her body returning the kiss as they floated in a slow circle. It lasted for what felt like eternity, the only noise around them was the soft smack of their lips before they finally pulled back. Bonnibel was surprised to find herself out of breath from just delicate actions but she supposed it was because Marceline had truly taken her breath away.
"Well?" Bonnibel asked again as Marceline chuckled, exposing her fangs as she leaned close again, their lips brushing.
"I think I'll take you back," she breathed before closing the small distance again.
COMMENT: Had to fix the spelling of Bonnibelle to Bonnibel on this one as well. I don't know if there is anything else that's spelled incorrectly. If it is because my spell check didn't catch it let me know, it's greatly appreciated! Enjoy!
Also, there is a sequel to this, "Two Worlds Collide" if you want more